Results tagged “hiddencameras”

Phillyist loves giant bands with interchangeable members. Bands like The Polyphonic Spree, Belle and Sebastian, and The Hidden Cameras, to name a few. Well, there's another one you may not have heard of: Willard Grant Conspiracy, who will be performing Upstairs at the World Cafe Live tonight. The band has one consistent member and a lot of rotating musicians, and a harder, almost bluesy folk-rock sound than their other megagroup counterparts.

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

Our old friends Dirty on Purpose are back in town tonight at the First Unitarian Church with crazy Canadian indie folk pop outfit the Hidden Cameras, so it's time to head on down to Center City and worship at the indie rock altar! Dirty on Purpose will no doubt be playing plenty of tracks from their brand new album, Hallelujah Sirens, which we've had a chance to listen to thanks to the generosity of a fellow local blogger. Verdict: it's good! It's got a really nice sound to it. Lots of pleasant, melodic indie pop rock. Great music to sway and ponder to - sort of like Yo La Tengo. Something aboout it is reminding us of the Breeders, too. The real stand-out track is the bouncing, rollicking "Car No Driver," a fantastic song about being passed on the road by a car without a driver, amongst other things.

On July 14th, Phillyist sat down with Joel Gibb, lead singer of the Toronto-based group The Hidden Cameras. When we arrived at First Unitarian, Gibb was in crisis mode: his amp wasn’t working, and he was having trouble finding anyone able to repair it at the last minute. But Gibb isn’t the type to stress. He asked a friend to keep looking for repair shops and led us from the sweltering basement to a bench outside so we could sit and talk about him, his music, and the subject that excites him the most: semiotics.

Imagine that Belle and Sebastian sang about gay sex. No? What about if the Polyphonic Spree had half-naked go-go dancers on stage? Still not picturing it? Picture this: Toronto's Hidden Cameras are playing at First Unitarian Church this Thursday, July 14, and if you want to know what to expect, read the above paragraph. The Hidden Cameras are composed of a core band with up to fifteen rotating musicians, drag queens, go-go dancers, and strippers. Their music is legitimately folk, their lyrics are unquestionably queer (in all senses of the word), and their shows (often in churches) are indubitably sacreligious. Not that we care about a little heresy once in a while. We just thought you'd like to know what you're in for. The Hidden Cameras with guests Cara Hyde and Pony Da Look play at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut Street, on Thursday, July 14, at 8 PM. Tickets are $10 and are available at Spaceboy Music (704 South Street), on the phone at 1-866-7619, or online. This will be an all ages show - but we don't reccommend bringing the kiddies.