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Hidden In Plain View
- Life In Dreaming
(Drive-Thru)
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| Since riding in on the Drive Thru Invasion tour this time last year, New Jersey quintet Hidden In Plain View have clearly blossomed from being the ‘next big thing’ into a major commercial contender, and with debut Life In Dreaming they would seem to have a clear road ahead of them. |
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Losing the raw, rabid presence of their live act, and their gritty self-titled EP, Life In Dreaming instead borrows melodies from Jimmy Eat World and the multi-layered vocals and gut-wrenching pleas of Taking Back Sunday. In fact, packed with unforgettable, soaring anthems, this is an album you could attribute to many a big name of the moment – and not just the obvious US influences. “The Innocent Ones”, for example, resonates with the dulcet tones of early Idlewild records, its melancholic refrain bursting with intensity.
And though the record does sacrifice a hefty chunk of that early visceral quality, evidence of their former selves remain in songs like “Ashes Ashes”, with its swirling mass of military riffs and contrasting harmonies. A pleasurably chaotic listen, it is considerably more satisfying than the flat, weak album closer “Halcyon Daze”.
But it is poignant standout track “In Memory” that really commands the attention. The stop/start rundowns and relentless battling between vocals and music inspires and invigorate to the core, and if you’re not roused by the pulsating beats and thunderous tone then you need a check-up.
Having witnessed their prowess on a live scale I don’t doubt that these songs will function on an impressively higher level in future. But whether there is enough spark here to claw some of the attention from Taking Back Sunday’s legion of fans remains to be seen.
Hidden In Plain View are clearly capable of a lot more, and maybe straying off this well-trodden path would allow them a better chance of succeeding on their own merits. |
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| Lucy Freeman - 8/10 |
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