AMG Review of Arms of His Ill

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

The Arms of His Ill, originally pressed to 10" vinyl and sold at shows, is for serious Hidden Cameras fans only. While it features some of the quirky Canadians' best compositions, all eight of the songs are four-track demos produced by head Camera Joel Gibb at home, so the sound quality is both thin and occasionally overdriven. However, despite the poor sound quality, it's almost impossible to deny the razor-sharp hooks in cuts like "Doot Doot Plot," "Fear Is On," and "Music Is My Boyfriend," all of which appear in their superior studio form on 2004's excellent Mississauga Goddam.