THE HIDDEN CAMERAS
Learning The Lie: 4-Track Demos
Evil Evil
· An early peek.
If Joel Gibb ever accidentally recorded himself reciting names from the phone book, he'd probably find some reason to release it.
As the de facto crown prince art fag perched atop the queer rock pile, Gibb's accelerated output as leader of The Hidden Cameras now sees his demo collections outnumbering his actual studio releases. Collected here in a gorgeous gatefold double seven-inch set (strictly limited, of course), these demos for the upcoming Awoo full-length see the Cameras spinning off into several new directions, some working better than others. While "Why I Understand" comes off as a Looney Tunes musical interlude better suited to Bugs Bunny, and "Lollipop" sticks like it does thanks in part to being so daft and annoying, both the charming "Death of a Tune" and surprising ’60s garage riffs of "Learning The Lie" pitch up Awoo as one of this year's most exciting releases.
Sure, Gibb's lyrical line in homoeroticism may have run its course with the trite innuendo of "Lollipop" (suck on it... get it? Eh?), but the gravity of his admission that "silence from you is like the death of a tune" in that track's opening line (sporting a cute new mock-Mersey accent) ensures Gibb still has a lot left to say. Considering how good much of the rest of Awoo's songs are (take "Fee Fie" and the album's title track, for instance), who can blame him for wanting to keep at least a few of the finer bits under his hat for a little longer yet?
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