I can’t be the only Doper completely enthralled with Twin Cinema, the New Pornographers’ latest power-pop masterpiece. Can I?
It’s got Carl Newman and Dan Bejar crafting insanely catchy songs. Seriously, I listened to this album twice and my brain was positively infested with earworms. And I loved them all!
It’s got a song that’s a sequel to a song on their first album, Mass Romantic (“Jackie, Dressed in Cobras,” following “Jackie”).
It’s got a website that spoofs the look of the IMDb. (And plays music!)
It’s got “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” which makes no sense and perfect sense and lyrics you’ll sing along with from the second listen on.
It’s got strategic use of Neko Case – and not just the same way she was strategically used on “Letter from an Occupant” and “The Laws Have Changed.” So all us Neko fanboys get our fix until her new album comes out next spring.
Album of the year for me so far. I’ve come to realize I’m Carl Newman’s bitch. Seriously, with three amazing albums (so far), the NPs are easily one of my favorite. bands. ever.
That’s a pretty heady endorsement (no pun intended since I initially thought your title was an opium reference) I’m gonna pick it up tomorrow. I love the NPs, I wonder how popular they are outside of Canada.
The record is decent - solid, even - but I feel like it’s just another Electric Version - that is, an album that tries to be the killer pop record that Mass Romantic was, but ends up falling short.
There’s a certain sense of “maturity” about the songwriting and production, but I’m not sure that this is a good thing - I come to the New Pornos for songs with more hooks in the verses than most songs have in their choruses, and they seem to have eschewed that in favor of tackling a more “respectable” and “serious” sound.
More than ever, it sounds like Carl Newman’s show - it’s actually surprising how much the record sounds like Zumpano (Newman’s pre-New Pornos band) rather than the collab frenzy that the New Pornos have always been about. Where’s Neko’s input, other than as “backup vocalist?” She seems to have receded from prominence, and I hear that she’s not even touring with the band anymore.
But Dan Bejar’s the real quitter - he all-but left the band during Electric Version, and he sounds almost entirely absent on this new record. His contributions are lazy and formulaic, sounding phoned-in. They fall short of even the weaker moments on his recent (and weakest) album as Destroyer, Your Blues.
Of course, the record’s still a far better record than what 99% of people out there are listening to, but I can’t help but wait for this group of killer songwriters and performers to put together something as brilliant as Mass Romantic again.
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard them on regular radio here in the US, but internet radio stations like KEXP and WOXY play them all the time. They’re my favorite pop rock/power pop/whateveryawannacallem band at the moment. I’ve yet to check out the latest, but if it’s anything like Mass Romantic or Electric Version, I won’t be disappointed.
VCO3, I hear what you’re saying. Mass Romantic remains their creative zenith, but I’m a big fan of all three albums. And frankly, I’m glad Twin Cinema changes their sound – I hate it when bands wall themselves into too narrow a niche.
And my impression was that Newman has always been the band’s prime creative mover – he’s the one in the studio stitching all the pieces together, even on Bejar’s songs. I know Neko described herself even on the first album as “Carl’s robot” – she adds personality and an amazing voice, but she’s not a songwriter so far as I know. But last I heard, while she missed some of the band’s early shows, she’s going to appear with them for most of it.
I have to admit that I was disappointed on my first listen – I really don’t think Twin Cinema sounds like either of the first two albums. But once I figured out its sound, I was hooked.
I’m hoping to pick *Twin Cinema * up over the weekend, most likely trading in some other CDs for it at the store. I love their first two albums, but I’m a fan of anything Neko Case does, first and foremost. (I wonder if I can also find Canadian Amp at the store…?)
I’ve listened to it a couple times, but it just doesn’t grab me at all. Electric Version and Mass Romantic were okay for what they were: a bunch of hooks. Twin Cinema sounds like they were trying to make a real album instead of just power-pop, and it ends up being completely forgettable.
I’m not a big fan of the other two albums either, but at least they had two or three tracks that were total standouts and I couldn’t stop listening to. On Twin Cinema there’s no equivalent of “Letter from an Occupant” and “The Laws Have Changed” and “All for Swinging You Around.”
Be warned: you will be disappointed at Neko’s light presence on this album. It’s a shift in their sound, and Newman deliberately didn’t include a Neko-led barn-burner on this album since he’d done it twice before.
I love Neko, and I love the New Porngraphers, but they’re not interchangeable.
I know there are a plethora of people who will most likely disagree with me, but I feel that Carl (or AC, as he likes to go by now) Newman is the best pop songwriter since Brian Wilson.
ducks
Absolutely amazing album. It may be my favorite of their three. But then again I’ve only listened to it a hundred times since it was released, so I will need to listen to it another hundred before I can decide for sure.
I’m seeing them in Philly on the 14th of October, and Destroyer is opening for them, which means Dan will be doing his songs!
I dunno. I think “Slow Decent Into Alcoholism” was a better track off that album.
To me, both Mass Romantic and The Electric Version are equally great albums. I could not say one is better than the other. Originally, I preferred the former to the latter, but now, I think their sophomore effort eclipsed their first.
Is he going by AC with the New Pornographers? I know he used that on his solo album, The Small Wonder – which I like okay, but not as much as the NP albums. I think Bejar (and maybe Neko) serve as his McCartneys – or at least his Garfunkels – and bring out his best efforts.
And “Letter from an Occupant” is one of my favorite songs ever – I’m sure I’ve heard it over 100 times and I love it just as much as the first time.
Count me as another fan who loves Twin Cinema. However, I really think it takes multiple listens to really this CD compared to the instant love I felt for Mass Romantic and, to a lesser extent, Electric Version (although All for Swinging You Around is probably my all-time favourite track). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I appreciate a band who’s willing to evolve and even challenge their fan base.
I heard TC for the first time on a 4 hour long drive to Georgian Bay which proved to be ideal circumstances for getting to know this CD. The first time through, my reaction was “Meh. There’s some catchy stuff here but it’s over-long and there’s a scarcity of really good hooks.” Mild disappointment, but since I had plenty of time, I gave it another listen and my appreciation rose. By the 3rd time through I was completely won over. Sure, the CD could have used more Neko (every CD could use more Neko) but at least we’ll have a new solo release this spring.
Another NP fan here - the songs I’ve heard sound great but I agree with posters who say it isn’t distinct enought fro Electric Version to warrant a purchase, but I am open to the possibility of warming up more to it.
Neko has the most time to date on TC. She leads on Bones of an Idol, and on These are the Legends, co-leads on Three or Four, and is support-vocalling all over the place.
It is good to note that TC is utterly devoid of any barn-burners.
Neko will release something of her own soon.
What AC does is to get Neko to make the sort of noises that you won’t hear from her on any of her other projects, which all lean more heavily to Alt. Country.
