There is a certain beauty that comes from reflective storytelling-based songwriting. The listener is able to place themselves into the life of the songwriter and, depending on the writing, look around the scene and understand the artist on a deeper level… kind of like how Tom Hanks was dropped into archival footage in Forrest Gump. San Jose, California’s Hard Girls are able to enact this type of storytelling on “Camera,” the latest single from their upcoming album Floating Now, which is set for an October 6th release.
With principal songwriting split between guitarist Mike Huguenor (who has spent most of 2017 on tour with Jeff Rosenstock) and bassist Morgan Herrell, “Camera” references “a waterproof camera that was a gift from me to my girlfriend,” Herrell says. However, it wasn’t long before the camera was lost after being dropped in the Colorado River. Though it appeared that all hope was lost, the camera somehow found its way back to the couple.
“The camera apparently washed up on the shore and was found buried in the sand a few weeks later,” Herrell recals. “The finder put new batteries in it, the camera still worked and they recognized someone in the pictures who turned out be a mutual acquaintance of my girlfriend’s and the finder, they contacted her and the camera was returned. The camera still works and it still seems impossible to me that something so fragile lost in a raging river was found, still working and returned. The song is about the impossible camera and a spirit of care-free travel with someone you love inspired by its finding.”
Sonically, “Camera” is a rollicking good time, filled with distorted guitars and a refrain with one of those riffs that is unbelievably pleasing for reasons you can’t quite place, leaving a grin on your face every time the band returns to it throughout the track. Check it out below.
Floating Now is out October 6th on Asian Man Records. In support of the record, Hard Girls will embark on a massive California tour, the dates for which can be found below.
