Mass Romantic: New Pornographers: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Mass Romantic

2. The Fake Headlines

3. The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism

4. Mystery Hours

5. Jackie

6. Letter From an Occupant

7. To Wild Homes

8. The Body Says No

9. Execution Day

10. Centre For Holy Wars

11. The Mary Martin Show

12. Breakin' The Law

Product Description

Amazon.ca Canadian Essential

The debut of this Vancouver indie supergroup led by Zumpano's Carl Newman sent critics scrambling to the early 80s and mid 60s for power-pop forebears, and it sent everyone else bouncing down the street and shouting out car windows. In a happily urgent record full of tight harmonies and cryptic storytelling, the high point undeniably remains the great single "Letter from an Occupant," which rides Neko Case's country-crooner voice nearly off the rails. -- Tom Nissley

Amazon.ca

Reigning Vancouver melody masters Carl Newman (of Zumpano) and Daniel Bejar (Destroyer) team up for a great debut full of sharp pop hooks and consistently solid performances. Rounding out this mini-supergroup is Limblifter's Kurt Dahle, the Evaporators's John Collins, cow-punk crooner Neko Case and, interestingly, independent filmmaker Blaine Thurier. Whereas Zumpano have made a name for themselves by updating classic '60s melodic pop, the New Pornographers draw on influences that are less specific, at times coming off as new wave refugees. Standout tracks--and there are many--include the disc's grinding, keyboard-driven title track, the bouncy, rollicking singalong "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism," and "Letter From an Occupant," which just may be one of the greatest Canadian pop singles ever written. --Chuck Molgat

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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Alternative power pop with melody--just a fantastic album, Feb 13 2003

By

woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mass Romantic (Audio CD)

The New Pornographers make the kind of music you thought no one made anymore. A rare balance of noise and melody, full of alternative energy, pop hooks, crunching guitars, lo-fi keyboards, and hyperactive drums. The songs have great titles like "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism" and "Centre for Holy Wars". The lyrics are nonsensical in a They Might Be Giants way, with throwaway gems like "the bruises on my legs from kicking pills" and "Visualize success, but don't believe your eyes". At any time, a song may stop for a sing-along on a repeated line like "Salvation whole-life central" or "Hope grows greener than grass stains". "Letter from an Occupant" is one of the greatest singles you've never heard (it did show up in the movie "Serendipity"), with alt-country singer Neko Case providing a wailing vocal. Other highlights include "Mass Romantic", "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism", "The Body Says No", and "Centre for Holy Wars", and there's nothing remotely close to a bad song on the CD. It's one of those albums that you thank your lucky stars that you somehow found out it existed.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Sing Along Loudly Because You Can't Help It, Jan 4 2003

By

Laura M. Witkowski "emitecaps" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mass Romantic (Audio CD)

It is amazing to me the number of reviews I have read of this album in which people sound disappointed by it's sound and content. My guess is these people expected something a little more akin to Neko Case and her country ways, not a utopian pop record that sounds remarkably like every great 80's guitar pop song ever recorded. Chunky guitars and sing it loud vocals abound ala the Cars and Blondie while Neko and friends sound like they are having the time of their lives. Don't try to put this one on for background music though -- you can't help but pay attention and might even find yourself dancing around.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Pop, July 22 2003

By

J. Marchese (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mass Romantic (Audio CD)

This is a brilliant CD through & through. Great pop songs - some of the best crafted, ever. If you are a fan of well-written, well-played, well-sung indie pop, then this is an album you have to have in your collection. I'd heard of Neko Case before, but I was never a fan of her alt-country thing, but with The New Pornographers, I'd rate her right up there with the likes of Deborah Harry or Belinda Carlisle (which is actually a compliment for those connoisseurs of 80's New Wave).

The album as a whole is genius because each song works well together, but at the same time could easily be from different artists. It's a tricky thing to come by; Shudder To Think is the only other band I can think of that pulls it off well.

"Letter From An Occupant" is the stand-out song on the album, in my opinion, but all the songs are catchy. Sure, it can be a little sugary & jingle-jangle guitar isn't for every one, but for fans of pop (especially the variety of mid-to-late 80's indie pop) every song is a winner.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars a forgettable stinker
I think this CD was on my recommendations list. That will teach me to buy something without listening to it first. Ugh. Read more

Published on Jun 13 2003 by chris romano

5.0 out of 5 stars rated # 9 on pitchforkmedia's top 20 of '01
If the music of Vancouver's best and brightest had made its way to the ears of Jimmy Swaggart, the Christian televangelist would never have dubbed music "the "new pornography. Read more

Published on Mar 16 2003 by treblekicker