Camp Cope: How to Socialise & Make Friends Review

By Cheyenne Young
Music Journalist

Artist: Camp Cope
Album: How to Socialise & Make Friends
Release Date: March 2, 2018
Label: Run for Cover Records

In the midst of the continuing women’s rights movement, Camp Cope is the voice of many as they break down gender inequality in music and in everyday life. Camp Cope is an all-female band composed of Georgia ‘Maq’ McDonald, Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich and Sarah Thompson. The Australian trio created the band in 2015, released their first album Camp Cope in 2016, and recently released their newest album How to Socialise & Make Friends in 2018. The group are hardcore advocates, shedding light on the severely small number of female bands headlining and being booked by festivals. The no-nonsense band are using their platform to spread their message and encourage others to do so as well.

The alternative rock group uses How to Socialise & Make Friends to state their opinions and share their experiences. While the rhythms can be quite repetitive, the message behind each song touches on a different topic. Camp Cope does not need heavy riffs and intense drum solos to draw us in; the steady bass and collected drums do the job. The focus of the album is not in the music itself, but in the powerful messages and pictures being portrayed.

The cathartic album is filled with strong emotions and symbolism about inequality, relationships and loss. The first track “The Opener” is a powerful song about female bands only being brought on as supporting acts. Maq puts the male-based music industry on blast as she she sings, “it’s another man telling us we can’t fill up the room/ it’s another man telling us to book a smaller venue.” The song makes a statement as well as provides a call for action on this issue. Maq strikes a chord with women in music everywhere as she yells, “tell me again how there just aren’t that many girls in the music scene.” The third track on the album, “The Face of God,” is an emotion-packed song about sexual assault and coercion, a topic many women are all too familiar with. In the song, Maq sings, “somehow what happened to me was my fault,” as she talks about victim-blaming and the societal silence surrounding sexual assault.

Camp Cope is continuing to break down walls in the music industry as well as in the world. This is just the beginning for this powerful group, and I am eager to see how far they will go. Camp Cope is going on tour with Petal around the U.S. this summer, don’t forget to grab your tickets!