Press
Reviews
“Seattle’s music establishment has never been at a loss for ideas, fresh melodies, or dynamic live performers…BC Campbell played the Seattle song for at least 30 minutes Tuesday night. The band’s music exists on a solid plane of the indie-folk archetype, ticked with pedal-steel guitar. Lead vocals were solid, harmonies were nailed.” – The Seattle Weekly
“You must hear Gold Mountain, a triple headed hydra of musical invention. Kathy Moore, B.C. Campbell, and Judd Wasserman are each accomplished singer/songwriters who, in tandem, provide the small, painful victories we yearn for in a night of folk, country and blues. Drink corn liquor, heed their harmonies, walk over water. It’s a revival.” -The Stranger
“Local rockers Celebrity Orphans have a nice mix of ponderously slow and ferociously upbeat songs in their repertoire. Their ballads lean toward lyrics of emotional pain and lament while their whimsical up-temp rhythms inspire rushes to the dance floor.” – Seattle P.I.
“Their debut release was one of the best I heard out of Seattle in 2007. The music is rich, like a thick cut of red meat dripping with the saucy vocals and guitar from BC Campbell. A local genius for lack of better words. ” – Seattlesubsonic.com
“The Celebrity Orphans are at their gloriest best, especially on the track “Hello” where guitar solos explode with understated raw power.” – Seattle Sound
“If sex came in a tube of toothpaste The Celebrity Orphans squeeze 39 minutes worth with their new self-titled album. Up-tempo rocksters like “Hello” “You Got Nothin” & “Let Me Tell You” are ferociously danceable with BC Campbell and company telling the entire world just who’s doing the messin’ around now. Take a listen to slinky “Hello” and you can imagine mister broken-heart deciding he was done being the victim “notify my next of kin… cause you and me are gonna sin” or the delta bluesy “Let Me Tell You” where BC announces “Listen my pretty to my little ditty cuz what do you got to lose”. Slow burners like “Broken Night” and “I Need You” (with beautifully haunting back-up vocals from bassist Angelina Baldoz) draw comparison to Chris Isaac while the terra firma terror on “Rollercoaster” and the bouncy 70′s “Car crash” show a liking to the Talking Heads. The Celebrity Orphans do a curious thing with this album by going top heavy with slower material. For some musicians this would end up being a regular snooze-fest, but in this case it takes the listener in dredging up memories of the break-up phone call, the drunken mistake, the terrifying realization that you’re single. Loneliness, tragedy and false perception make for great songs and the Celebrity Orphans successfully build their foundation on this premise and then shellac it to the nines with sex appeal.
This freshman release is fiercely well-written and with KEXP live engineer Julian Martlew at the knobs and whistles finds the Orphans at the top of their craft with an album that announces that they are here to stay. Highly recommend you buy this album and a toothbrush.” -Nadamucho.com
“The Celebrity Orphans do get you at “Hello,” the song that opens their
self-titled, full length debut album. It’s a raunchy Texas style blues
riff that takes off Morphine style and drives you right off the cliff
of sin and debauchery. B.C. Campbell damn near snakes his way across
this song enticing the listener to loosen all kinds of inhibitions and
throw caution out the car door.
This rock-n-roll ring leader extraordinaire has assembled a band of
brilliant and inspired players to take the ride along with him. In
Angelina Baldoz he has a great singing partner with clear voiced
Joplinesque harmonies, but also a hell of a bass player. Jay Hoots has
to be one of the most expressive drummers on the scene today. This guy
is more than just meters and fills or in the pocket.
Campbell proves over and over again on this record what a mature
songwriter he is. On “I Need You,” which has to be one of the most
heart felt odes to longing for a loved one -it also helps that he has
a very sweet Chris Isaak like croon to handle the wailing emotions of
such vulnerable words:”You were coming/And I knew you were coming… I
need you, I need you/And time was moving too slow/And I was getting to
old.” The chorus is just simply beautiful, and where he croons “I need
you” repeatedly with Baldoz providing a lonesome harmony, you can feel
your stomach drop hoping the lovers either get together or that she
lets him down in a way that doesn’t sting to badly. Campbell can come
across that viscerally.” – Jill Cunningham, Radio Free Seattle
“Excellent songwriting, nearly perfect songs.” – Hybridmagazine.com
“A winning result…unshakable.” – Pluginmusic.com
“This band from Seattle had me at “Hello”. Actually that’s the first track from their 9-song self-titled debut, and the lean to the more indie rock side of power pop. Other standouts on the disc include “You Got Nothin’” which has kind of a Supergrass-meets-Steve Earle sound (don’t ask, just listen), the ballad “Every Charm”, and the Spoon-ish “Carcrash”. A promising debut.” -Absolutepowerpop
