I first came across the Midwest Emo group Camping in Alaska via a YouTube recommendation. Their mixture of melodic guitar lines and whiny vocals, occasionally punctuated by impassioned shouting, really struck a chord with me. Despite having Alaska in their name, the band is from Huntsville, Alabama, having formed when Austin Davis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Jacob Stewart (drums) were only 15 years old. They released their first album, please be nice, in 2013 when they were still teenagers. In the next three years they released two other albums, BATHE (2014) and WELCOME HOME SON (2016), before dissolving due to the band struggling with drug addiction. Fortunately, the band reformed in 2023 to release a 3 song EP called Hollow Eyes. And now, in the final days of 2024, they have released their latest full length record, Eggbeater Jesus! The name and album art is derived from a mural of Jesus on the First Baptist Church Huntsville, where Jesus’ robes look suspiciously like a whirling eggbeater.
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