What happened to the whimsy? The Hidden Cameras have officially reached the ‘let’s get serious’ stage of their band lives, and on Origin: Orphan have come up with their least sprightly-sounding music yet.  Granted, this still makes them about twenty times more cheerful than most of their ilk, since The Hidden Cameras have always walked a fine line between chortling melody and all-out craziness, and in this album they must have found another line.

Not depressing by any means, these guys are generally agreed to have reached their peak on The Smell of Our Own, but on here they seem to be have formed an idea (that being ‘take all these pop melodies and sprinkle them with slightly more threatening arrangements…slightly) and then put themselves on autopilot.  Listen to single “In the NA”, and you’ve pretty much got the vibe of the album, with simple synth chords (the band seem perfectly content on Origin: Orphan to provide not a shred of melody aside from Joel Gibb’s voice; the violins, synths and guitars stay rooted on one note as filling in between the verses) and almost-as-simple tunes.

Admittedly, The Hidden Cameras were never intending to be anything more than that kind of thing, though, but they seem to be reluctant to admit that they’re best at creating simple pop – indeed, the two most ‘dumb fun’ songs on the album (“Underage” and closer “The Little Bit”) are also the only ones that stick with you.

If you’re a fan of The Hidden Cameras already – and they do have a dedicated following, it seems – then this will obviously be essential.  You might love it.  I’m not really sure what to think about it, though I’ve been told that I live literally a few doors down from one of their members, so maybe I can ask him what they were aiming for here one day.  Right now, I’m more or less indifferent to it, though I do know that that album cover blows.

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For more Hidden Cameras,

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hiddencameras

Don’t forget to catch The Hidden Cameras and Gentleman Reg at the Opera House on December 5th. Tickets are still on sale for $15.00!