The Campbell Apartment - In A Long Time Ago

The Campbell Apartment, a San Francisco based indie rock trio, consists of Ari Vais, Kevin Frank and Steve Mathews on guitar/vocals, bass and drums, respectively.  The band has been together since the mid-’00s, and their first release, “Insomniac’s Almanac“, was hailed by The Village Voice as the 4th Best Album of 2008.

Ari Vais has been writing, recording and performing original songs since before the term indie, in fact since the late ’80s.  The writer has become more prolific than ever in the last several years.

“In A Long Time Ago“, a term coined by Ari Vais‘ four year old identical twin daughters, is a collection of 14 songs recorded between 1994 and 1999.  His music has often been described by critics and fans alike as having a ’90s sound, and indeed Vais was reborn as a songwriter – always an ardent Beatlemaniac – when Nirvana hit the big time.

This collection is actually all from the 1990s, hence the title of the record.  Good songs never sound dated and always withstand the test of time, as is clearly the case here.  This collection of 30 or so year old songs stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of The Campbell Apartment’s work to date.

If you’re a fan of Ari Vais songs, you will love this record.

“Ari has a storyteller’s way of inhabiting these dark spaces, breathing life into each scene by illuminating human nature’s good side and dwelling on it for just long enough before smashing it to bits.” Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne)

“The world may be crashing and burning, but smart, witty, heartfelt indie rock is alive and #@!$ing well. So at least we got that going for us.” Ben Deily (The Lemonheads)

“Reminds me of Ween.” Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy)

“Very Pavement-y.” Joe Levy (Rolling Stone)

“Rocks freely and tons of fun.” Magnet Magazine

“A rather impressive slate of work.” Ghettoblaster Magazine