LimeWire Music Blog

Joel Gibb’s Hidden Cameras are one of the gayest bands ever, and that’s a damn good thing. The ever-expanding Canadian troupe treks about North America, creating sweet and campy onstage pageants, all thrift-store costuming and jubilant sing-alongs. But just because they’re excellent live doesn’t detract from The Hidden Cameras’ studio chops. The band’s fifth full-length, Origin:Orphan is a dizzying jaunt, packed with backward-looking genre play. “Walk On” is all dramatic strings and gloomy, INXS-style, deep-voiced singing. “He Falls to Me,” by contrast, seems to find its inspiration in the psychedelic ’60s music of Love. Of course, The Hidden Cameras are invariably most fun when it’s time for envelope-pushing raunchiness. In the past, they’ve encouraged us to “Ban Marriage,” but this time they’re boldly (and sarcastically) delving into NAMBLA territory. Hence, the album’s highlight: “Underage,” a bouncy, brassy, synth-laden dance track with the refrain, “Let’s do it like we’re underage / That’s how we will be / Free of the illusion that will be the death of me.” What does it mean? Who cares? Check those male vocal harmonies!