Twee duo Summer Camp are on a quest for 1980s nostalgia with their debut album. They have an artful trick up their sleeve for their Kent shows too. Chris Price reports.

Summer Camp are a band on the cusp of great things - and about time too.

Fans of the lo-fi pop duo have waited for ages for the band to finally release their debut album. It was back at the end of 2009 when Elizabeth Sankey and Jeremy Warmsley first grabbed the music blogging world's attention, as they released a cover of Flamingos' 1959 hit I Only Have Eyes for You in an obscure corner of MySpace, pretending to be a Swedish band.

Their undeniable talent together meant they couldn't keep up the pretence for long but so far admirers of the London band have had to settle for just a few singles and the six-track Young EP.

They have taken their time putting together Welcome to Condale, which comes out this Halloween. Yet as Elizabeth and Jeremy talk about their upcoming show at Margate's Turner Contemporary, it is all too clear it will have been worth the wait.

"The gig at the Turner will be an audio visual show so Elizabeth has picked out some dance sequences on film," said guitarist and production man Jeremy, 28.

"We normally project an image behind us. As Elizabeth collects vintage photographs, she delves into her collection for each gig but this show is taking it to the next level with dance sequences in time with the music."

If the idea works then the band hope to use the sequence on their headline tour, which will stop off at Canterbury's Farmhouse in November.

The Turner set is part of Moshi Moshi Presents..., where music lovers can sample some of the London label's top talent at the Turner Contemporary over this weekend.

The list of acts that Moshi Moshi Records has helped take their first steps in the music business speaks for itself. Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Florence and the Machine, Kate Nash and Friendly Fires all had early releases put out by the label.

Summer Camp are no exception but they will release their debut album on their own Apricot Recording Company, with Moshi Moshi offering some assistance to get the record out there.

"We have quite a lot on our plate," said Jeremy. "Every day you wake up and look at your to do list and some days you throw it out the window and write a song. I'm excited about playing songs from the album."

Inspired by the sounds of the 1980s, Summer Camp write pop tunes with bittersweet lyrics. The nostalgia in their songs is mirrored by their taste in vintage photography and old home-video footage, which can be seen on the video for their latest single Better Off Without You.

"A lot of talent in the music industry is a band by committee," said an agitated Jeremy, deviating for the only time from his usual friendly manner.

"They have 12 producers and 100 people have written one song for them and everyone is media trained. I think that is boring. It is nice to have individuality. Even if the music we make is not what everyone likes, we like it."

"We weren't doing it as a serious project."

Summer Camp formed after Elizabeth and Jeremy collaborated on a cover version of one of their favourite songs Flamingos' 1959 hit I Only Have Eyes for You. Within hours it was all over the internet, much to their surprise.

Jeremy said: "It wasn't that we didn't think it would take off. We weren't doing it as a serious project. We did it together for fun.

"We put it on the web pretending to be a band from Sweden. We didn't tell our friends and we don't know how the bloggers found it. But it got an incredible reaction so we thought maybe we would write a couple of songs. At that point Elizabeth had never written a song but she turned out to be a great songwriter.

"We have gone almost full time with it. It was one of those things like when your friend doesn't want to be single and they go out looking for someone but it doesn't work like that. It has to happen by accident and that was how the band worked."

Summer Camp round off Moshi Moshi Presents... which takes place at Margate's Turner Contemporary on Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2.

This Saturday see Slow Club, Tom Williams and The Boat and Psychologist performing from 6pm to 10pm. Tickets £10, concessions £8. Then on Sunday see Summer Camp from 4pm to 6pm. Tickets £5, concessions £4. Weekend tickets £12, concessions £10. Call 01843 233000.

Summer Camp then play at Canterbury's Farmhouse on Friday, November 18. Tickets £8. Call 01227 456118.