Cameron Keiber - NURSER
”Really Thoughtful Ideas” — CLOUT
”Elegant, Powerful Lyrics” —Ratings Game Music
”Nostalgic touch, Bowie-esque” — HIGHCLOUDS
“Habsburg Jaw was cool” – HOT LUNCH MUSIC
”Cameron Keiber is back with second single, ‘Sons and Daughters’, and the track is no less defiant in its message. Written over a decade ago but more thematically salient than ever, the song faces up to the attacks faced by the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups, and looks to dismantle the conservative logic which gives such opinions footing in the world…” — VARIOUS SMALL FLAMES
”The bright and energetic second single by Cameron Keiber, “Sons and Daughters,” brings a fresh burst of emotions and relevant themes to the indie rock world. Written more than ten years ago, this song finally finds its place in the contemporary music scene… — VOXWAVE MAGAZINE
”The rustic fire branded Americana politico rock of “Sons and Daughters” by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, creative, renaissance man Cameron Keiber (The Beatings, Eldridge Rodriguez), feels at once intimate and cavernous, the kind of song for community resistance and buried time capsules to exist forever…” — AMERICAN PANCAKE
”Having won acclaim as part of noise pop outfit The Beatings, Cameron Keiber went on to start the project Eldridge Rodriguez, releasing albums like Slightest of Treason and Atrophy which explored a plethora of contemporary issues with equal parts passion and disillusionment. Now recording under his own name, Keiber is returning next spring with new full-length Nurser, a record which continues this examination of the current state of things with a newly immediate, personal edge…” — VARIOUS SMALL FLAMES
”A soft pace halfway between folk and slacker, with this keyboard that intersects with the guitar and a sparse rhythm. The cut is lo-fi, but we assure you that it goes straight to the head with its simplicity and its radiophony. In reality there is also Cameron’s way of singing that captures us, between the singing and the declamatory he finds a deadly melodic line and it sticks there and we follow with absolute joy and pleasure… — INDIE FOR BUNNIES
“Cameron Keiber is an indie rock artist who often addresses themes of social justice, equality, and the fight for human rights. Throughout his career, Keiber has been recognized for his ability to capture the essence of contemporary challenges, becoming a voice for those fighting for inclusion and freedom. His musical style fuses elements of alternative rock with emotional nuances. — OLEADA
NURSER is the first proper solo album by Cameron Keiber in his 30 plus year career. Keiber was born in Raleigh North Carolina. Almost immediately after birth he underwent life saving surgery that left him with deep scars across his body, scars he was horribly self conscious of and contributed to a feeling of being an outsider that followed him through adulthood. When he was a child his family moved to New Jersey and then New York, under an hour from NYC. He grew up taking the bus into the city in the ‘80s and ‘90s where he was exposed to the NYC art, music and theater scene of the era. He played in bands in high school and after high school he attended The University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he started his first club band, opening for the likes of Helium, Polvo, Kustomized, J Mascis, The Unband and a bevy of Western Massachusetts luminaries at places like The Bay State Cabaret and Pearl Street. Upon graduating college Keiber fled to Boston and soon started noise pop heroes, The Beatings. That band was heralded by everyone from the Village Voice, Mojo, LA Weekly, The NYT, Magnet, The Washington Post (who’s editors picked the bands debut album, “Italiano” as there 5th best release that year), the Boston Globe, A/V Club and on and on. The Beatings did 7 national tours playing with acts as varied as The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, The Hold Steady, the National, Wesley Willis, Har Mar Superstar, Black Helicopter (a show Thurston Moore had on his end of the year list as a fav) and so many others. The band appeared as a talking head in the Mission of Burma documentary “Not a Photograph” along side the likes of Moby and Moore. The Beatings played there final show in May 2019 at beloved Boston institution, Great Scott.
In the years that The Beatings were waining Keiber began recording and playing out under the Eldridge Rodriguez moniker. What began as a solo effort with personnel coming in and out eventually to a permanent form with the release of The Castrati Menace album, making brothers David and Dennis Grabowski and Clayton Keiber and later Bridget Nault members. Eldridge Rodriguez has released 9 albums and EPs and multiple singles. They have become fixtures in the New England music scene and been praised by outlets like Stereogum, CoS, Under the Radar, The Big Takeover, Earmilk, Various Small Flames and more. They released their latest full length, Atrophy, in 2023 and have been headlining shows since to promote it.
NURSER is a slight departure for Keiber. Not only because it dabbles in loops and beats but it may be his most focused and direct lyrically. There are themes he’s explored in the past like religion (“Release”) and depression and death (“Forever 25”) but extremely personal journeys as well like calling out the tragic and possibly preventable death of his father, writer/artist Robert John Keiber (“Black Bear”) or telling conservatives to fuck off in defense of the LGBTQ+ community (“Sons and Daughters”).
Some people write songs that are left up to listeners interpretation, but that isn’t the case here. There are explicit points, thoughts and points of view across NURSER. Such as the treatment of women in the U.S. (“Beach Party Iran 1970”) or Conservative radicalization (“Deadloop”). The instrumentation plays with aspects of folk, rock, trap and noise. Its equal parts Neil Young and LCD Soundsystem. It has the playfulness of the Violent Femmes and word play of David Berman. Its got bits of The Fall as well as Sebadoh (Keiber opened for Lou Barlow a few years ago). The intention was to create an album that you put on late at night after being out. “After the Gold Rush” or John Cale’s “Fear”. Pleasant enough, but thoughtful. Emotional but not overwrought and unpalatable. (continue reading on DISCO)