The Hidden Cameras Made 2 Albums About Raunchy Gay Sex. Then It Stopped
Origin’s continued exploration of religion and alienation feature lyrics more sophisticated than anything in Awoo. And though the analogies have become more universal and less overtly sexual, they’re just as brutal and confessional as in the first two albums. Origin:Orphan’s titular track has Gibb wondering if he’s just as whorish as the whores that created him; “Kingdom Come” ponders whether waiting for a lover makes you a saint or a slave; and “The Colour Of A Man” compares stoic men to ash-colored statues deadening everything they touch. Whether you’ve dated an emotionally absent lover or have been one yourself, each song implicates listeners from both sides of the bed.
Most impressive is how confidently Origin surpasses the guitar-centric compositions of Smell and Mississauga by realizing the full emotional potential of drums, horns, and electrical instruments in grand orchestral arrangements.
In retrospect, Awoo sounds like the experimental precursor that helped Gibb hone tighter, more resonant productions with larger live performances in mind. The album still features the band’s trademark playful rock ditties like “In The NA” and “The Little Bit,” with Gibbs vocal exuberance and complex arrangements yielding many satisfying surprises; although “Do I Belong?” and “Underage” sound adolescent and underdeveloped compared to the album’s other chamber pop gems. And while’s it a rewarding listen, Origin:Orphan’s 1980’s pastiche is neither pointedly gay nor revolutionary.
What is revolutionary, though, is Gibb’s overall approach to making music. He first began creating The Hidden Cameras’ songs without any formal training on a four-track that he learned to use in 20 minutes. Since then, he’s written, scored, and produced every Hidden Cameras song, designed their CD covers, directed their videos, chosen venues, promoted shows, and designed staging. The band’s name refers to the ever-watchful eyes inside our own heads that discourage self-expression, and Gibb’s independent handling of the band has allowed him to dismantle his own hidden camera and really push his own capacity for emotional honesty. He acknowledges that each fan appreciates different aspects of the music and his live performances encourage each to rejoice in the aspects they love most.
Daniel Villarreal thanks interrobang, The Impatient Penguin, Crying Game, Bootch, and Doctor Who's Manwife for their help on this article. Daniel attended Dallas Pride this weekend with his older brother—that guy kicks ass. Email him at daniel@queerty.com.
On: Sep 22, 2009
Tagged: Daniel Villarreal, Joel Gibb, Music, Sex, the hidden cameras
Love The Hidden Cameras!
I’m a huge fan, but let’s be realistic. All their CDs sit in the shadow of their first.
“most indie rockers would rather gaze at their shoes than ever discuss sex” The author of this article doesn’t know many indie kids, does he?
@j: Indie ROCKERS, j. Find me an indie rock song about jism, penetration, or anal douching, and I’ll take it back.
@Daniel Villarreal:
You have a sadly, sickly narrow conception of what sex is about.
LOVE the Hidden Cameras! Hope they play Dublin, Ireland soon!!!! See you there!
@V: So, just to be clear, you agree with me that there aren’t many indie rock songs about actual sex?
hidden cameras music is a repetitive (badly repetitive) overproduced drivel using shock value to attract attention. but gays will support practically anything targeted specifically at them. stephen merrit songwriting it ain’t and if you can’t tell the difference, stop writing about music.
hello I am logged in, can’t find any “contact us” link… so am leaving a comment here I hope might find its way to someone who can help spread the word about an
amazing opera with a queer protagonist that is playing at calperformances this weekend at UC Berkeley… forgive me for pasting in a little info, but I hoped / thought you and your readers might want to know more about this pretty startling work that is being mounted “A House in Bali” by Evan Ziporyn based on the book by Colin McPhee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_McPhee
There are clips from the opera on the calperformances website that are just amazing I think incredibly engaging world fusion modern music with gamelan and this leading NY avant garde ensemble Bang on a Can All Stars and western operatic singers and Balinese singers and dancers. I’m coming up for it. It’s really sad that Lou Harrison is not around for this. I could totally see him showering EZ’s forehead with kisses and passing some kind of mantle to him…
http://www.calperfs.berkeley.e.....d/ahib.php
evidently the staging is going to be kind of mindblowing for this performance, it having previously been done outdoors in Bali.
I think they are actually having a really hard time selling tickets so there may be some kind of rush/low price deal on it…
hope you and some of your friend might check it out! thanks
Chris Maher
Chris “supermarky” Maher on facebook
Los Angeles
Sorry not a fan but I’m not a fan of your imput. The Hidden Cameras are much less repetitive than most pop acts & when they do it, they do it well (for the most part, everyone has their slip-ups). I have no idea where you get the overproduced bit from because I can hear plenty of dynamics in Hidden Cameras tunes compared to most things on radio. The “shock” is part of the hook and all (good) artists have those which is only a part of what makes the band amazing. I have never thought of The Hidden Cameras to be just aimed at me or some sort of camp because they’ve always had important things to say but more importantly they do it with style whereas Merrit is often too short and dull even when he’s trying to pull interest through being shocking. Give up the ghost & embrace the love.
This is a really well written article… best writing about music that I’ve read in a while. It’s the kind of thing that would make me give these guys a listen….