Fighting the competition from such radio-crowding rockers as Franz Ferdinand or the Killers, Hidden in Plain View has the ability to prolong the attention span of the suburban masses who have found solace in pop punk with their latest album Life in Dreaming.
Filled with high energy and emotional tirades, but lacking either a fresh approach or experimentation, Life in Dreaming, risks placing Hidden in Plain View in a rather confined niche of young, cookie-cutter punk bands if they are not careful.
They have the musical and vocal talent to reintroduce pop punk as fresh and exciting, with maturity in their lyrics and songwriting, but as Life in Dreaming rolls onward, the overall apparent link Hidden in Plain View lacks is the inspiration to change pop punk from familiar chord progression, heavy drums, and multi-leveled screaming lyrics into a vehicle for deep musical exploration.
Overall Life in Dreaming lacks a cohesive artistic voice due to a visible indecision of their purpose as a band. Is Hidden in Plain View a pop-punk band? Or maybe it is a \traditional"" punk band?
The producer, Jim Wirt, known for his work with Incubus and Something Corporate, creates an incongruous feel to ""Life in Dreaming.""
Hidden in Plain View's song styles are all over the spectrum, leaving the conclusion that they are yet to carve out a niche or figured how to differentiate themselves from their idols and influences.
Although Life in Dreaming does not take the genre anywhere new or intriguing, it remains a valiant effort. The album will earn Hidden in Plain View a larger base of fan support who will thoroughly enjoy numerous tracks.
Life in Dreaming will provide these boys with another year's worth of solid touring material and, more or less, a way to survive the hellish realities of making it in the music industry.
Not to completely dismiss the album as unoriginal; track seven, ""Innocent Ones,"" shows the potential Hidden in Plain View has if they invest more time into their development as a band.
The vocals are firmly planted within their current habit of high-pitched harmonies that are smooth and easy enough to adapt should ""The O.C."" come calling. Keep listening, and wait for the song's latter half when the gears of musical genius creak into motion with guitars aided by the quiet lull of strings take over and makes ""Innocent Ones"" soar above the rest of the album.
""Innocent Ones"" is Hidden in Plain View's finest offering on the album and gives them a voice, an identity and a gaze into the future like no other track. If they should continue to find their voices in the vein of ""Innocent Ones"" they can very easily lay the foundations for a prolific career.
Should they merely rest on their laurels and write derivative sophomoric punk songs with heavy bar chords, they may be left on the side of the road in these days of Connor Oberst and the ""The"" bands like The Vines, The Hives or The Strokes, all competing for the ears of the young and suburban while also attracting the attention of the educated and adult.
??-Bridget Maniaci
