For a band, escaping the past can become harder than is quite necessary. The Decemberists had to release two or three albums before they could brush off those Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons, though perhaps still not even completely. Of course, some bands desperately depend on those associations, i.e. the appalling Owl City and their healthy borrowings from Ben Gibbard. But, for the most part, bands want to strike out on their own, becoming the definition of their own sound.

Still unusually susceptible to this kind of typecasting is the all-girl group. They need to run further and faster to get ahead of the Garbage comparisons, or maybe the Tegan and Sara comparisons. Camp Out have received the Tegan and Sara comparison and, though it may not quite fit, it's easy to see why some people might hear it that way.

It doesn't hurt Camp Out is also a two-girl outfit, made up of Maddy Hanks and Jackie Law. Their music, full and harmonic, errs on the side of uber-sunny California pop. Utilizing looping pedals, keyboards and drum machines, Hanks and Law (sounds like a buddy-cop duo) flush out their sound and become much more than a guitar-and-drum band.

"We played a set, for a while, that was just guitar and drums," says Law. "Then we started recording our full-length album. ...  When we were finished with that, we wanted a way to reproduce that live."

"Lots of multi-tasking," adds Hanks.

For all the comparisons Camp Out may receive, upon listening to their debut LP, Closer, one can't help but forget about all of that. These are two uniquely talented people. And they're girls. And they're in a pop band. If that drums up anything for you, so be it.

To me, it sounds like something I want to put on repeat.

Camp Out

Wednesday, June 30, 10 p.m., no cover
Le Voyeur, 404 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia
360.943.5710