I've just bought the <a href="http://www.musicismyboyfriend.com">Hidden Cameras</a> single, released on Rough Trade Records this week, on a recommendation that they were "pure Dickon".
They appear to describe themselves as "a fifteen piece Toronto gay church folk band", fronted by their singer and songwriter Joel Gibb. And no, I don't think he's related to the Bee Gees in an Alexis Arquette, queer runt of the litter style.
To these ears the Hidden Cameras are a bit Aislers Set mixed with early Magnetic Fields. Echoey, non-rocking wall-of-sound indiepop. But with more church organs. And they are very gay in every sense of the word.
<img src="http://www.rbebout.com/getfree/pix/bantrio.jpg"></img>
The single is called "Ban Marriage" and takes place at the altar during the protagonist's own ceremony. He is there to marry his boyfriend, but his female best friend rails against coupling of any kind. He has to decide at the altar whether to listen to her or not:
<i>"I was forced to take a stand on one side. It was him or my fag hag, oh well, I guess she was never that good of a friend."</i>
But then the character changes his mind. He ends up raging with new vows of his own against all varieties of marriage, and specifically that:
<i>"There is splendour in the harshness of bum".</i>
Oh yes!
So naturally, my friend Ms Goodchild heard the single and thought of me.
It's a nice follow-up to Belle and Sebastian's "The State I'm In", another God-and-gayness song that was used in the film "Storytelling" to accompany a sex scene between two schoolboys.
By way of contrast to the brash queercore-pop A-side of "Ban Marriage", one of the b-sides, "We Oh We", is a stark, sensitive and beautiful torch song. It gives the singer a chance to show off his nigh-on Jeff Buckley-esque vocal talent, and it's actually quite difficult not to be moved to tears by the performance.
There's a fascinating interview with The Hidden Cameras at <a href="http://www.rbebout.com/getfree/cameras.htm">this webpage</a>.
The band are rumoured to be coming to London soon, but it might well be for a press-only showcase gig. If they ARE playing, and I fail to see them, I shall be even more annoyed than the time last week when I couldn't get into the Momus gig at Wimbledon Library. This was entirely due to my spending too much time on my make-up and arriving late.
I shall be playing "Ban Marriage" in my DJ set tonight (see my previous diary entry).
