The Smell Of Our Own

Toronto’s Hidden Cameras are already something of a household name in their homeland.
Big harmonies are the order of the day here, welded onto hugely hummable melodies: it’s The Polyphonic Spree shot through with Belle & Sebastian, as The Hidden Cameras take you on a soaring trip to the heavens, often via some seriously strange lyrics (‘The Animals Of Prey’ being a prime example).

Current single ‘Ban Marriage’ begins with an insistent plink-plink melody that tugs you roughly into its embrace. ‘A Miracle’ takes a gentler approach, seducing you with the twang of an acoustic guitar instead of bashing you over the head with the instrument’s body. ‘Smells Like Happiness’ and ‘Breathe On It’ are the closest things I have heard to the majesty of The Vulgar Boatmen that didn’t come from the pens of Dale Lawrence or Robert Ray.

Great stuff abounds, culminating in ‘Boys Of Melody’, the spirit of the Beach Boys smiling in the Californian sunshine.

The world of The Hidden Cameras is filled to the brim with shimmering, off-kilter pop. One minor quibble is that some parts seem to be in sepia tones when they could be glorious technicolour. But when the script is this good, who’s looking at the costumes?