Follow These Guys

Hidden Cameras, Canada’s celebrated, openly gay, pop group, has come up with a fabulous album, A-Woo. The singers of the group sound vaguely like the Bare Naked Ladies, but maybe it is just all the cold air and Canadian beer that gives them a similar cadence. The first track begins with the masochistic self-loathing of a romantic obsessed with an unresponsive person. “Death of a Tune” is about the blissful agony of being ignored. Lead singer Joel Gibb calls out, “Silence from you is like the death of a tune.” He repeats, “Wordless and you, wordless and you/ It’s been the same forever.” Dude, we’ve all been there.
If you check out the music video, which accompanies A-Woo you will be reminded of the creepy and jumpy photography a la The Blair Witch Project. There is a Coldplay-esque backing up of the camera as Gibb intently sings closely at the lens, completely oblivious to the hounds and goblins manically jiving in the background.
Despite the somewhat disturbing music video, my personal favorite still is the song that bears the name of the album title, “A-Woo.” I’m not exactly sure what the song is about, but it is catchy, upbeat, and has really cool sound effects. There are a couple of lines that stand out such as, “I’d rather wallow in the mud of my own imagination,” and “I’ve got 25 bucks can you save my reputation?”
“Follow These Eyes” is a track midway through the album that has an infectious syncopation. Reminiscent of Van Halen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” it’s a sad melody with unkept promises. Gibb admits with resolved stoicism, “I’ve been lost, I’ve been used, I’ve been/ Easily amused.”
For those of us incurable of wanderlust, “Wandering” is a great backdrop to long train rides watching the barren fields race by, or on the Shortline back to the city. Let the lyrics wash over you and feed your imagination with, “This feeling of mine/ I’ll be wandering/ Through the streets I will find/ It’s best to be wandering/ Even if I can’t find/ What I think is the light.”
If you like the chiming effects of the Grey’s Anatomy theme song you may like “The Waning Moon.” I am a fan of any song that celebrates the transition from the prudish celibacy evoked by the image of “the parched lawn” that transitions to a couple “up to [their] waist wet from the thaw.” This metamorphosis “Will make a man out of the lonely boy.” Enjoy!