The New Pornographers were one of the first notable Canadian supergroups/collective-type bands of the 21th century. They pretty much kickstarted the whole trend of gathering a bunch of bearded Canadian dudes and Feist-lookalikes to make indie pop music for the MASSES, leading the way for the likes Broken Social Scene, The Arcade Fire and Simple Plan. The New Pornos are kind of like the Justice League, as in they were all previously established Canadian Men and Women before forming this whonky supergroup. Lead singer Carl Newman used to rock Canucks all across the country as the frontman of cult post-punk outfit Our Lady Peace, Dan Bejar aka. “The Destroyer” made a name for himself by writing the theme song for beloved Canadian wrestling hero Bret “The Hitman” Hart, while Neko Case worked as a backup singer for Céline Dion during her Las Vegas residency. I’m not even sure if she’s Canadian. Other people also play instruments in the band, but no one gives a shit about them.
Mass Romantic is the band’s debut and it boasts one of the worst album covers I have ever seen. Other than that, this record is pure awesomeness. Newman and his army of maple-syrup junkies take the sound of 80’s power pop and give you a timeless, instantly-loveable batch of songs. The crunchy guitars of Cheap Trick, the bouncy synths of The Cars and melodic hooks of Big Star can all be heard throughout, yet the end result is something that sounds completely unique and fresh. The opening title track is the ideal introduction to the world of the New Pornos: chugging guitars, playful synths, fun vocals from Neko Case with super-melodic backing vocals from Newman and hooks all over the place. Beach Boys harmonies set-up a rocking guitar finale of ultimate power pop bounciness. And yeah, that’s just the first song, homie. By the way I just noticed I’ve been referencing the Beach Boys in all three of my Track Attack reviews, so either I don’t listen to enough music, or Brian Wilson’s influence is OMNIPRESENT in modern indie rock. Choose or lose.
There’s quite a difference between Bejar’s song-writing approach and Newman’s on this album. Newman clearly goes for all-out pop action with brilliant vocal hooks, upbeat melodies and great choruses. Meanwhile, Bejar’s sings like an asshole about “breaks in the continuum”. His songs seem more carefully paced and often build towards an uplifting finale instead of maintaining the same pop tone throughout. For example, both “Execution Day” and “Breaking The Law” (a Spanish-folk cover of the Judas Priest classic) start off rather down-tempo (especially compared to the Newman songs) but take eventual left turns into shiny pop vibrancy with soaring vocals, group chanting and what have you. These songs aren’t up to par with his best work with The Destroyers, but they are very good songs none the less.
The record offers a truckload of high points, but one of my personal favourites on there is “Mystery Hours”, as it’s sort of the song where Newman and Bejar completely bond as song-writing lovers and then proceed to blow your mind. The song has a big-time glam rock feel, with Newman delivering a very Bowie-esque vocal performance on top of crazy synths and nasty T. Rex-like guitars. Bejar’s love for good old Ziggy Stardust and Mark Bolan is quite well documented, hence the impression of SONG-WRITING FUSION between him and Newman. Shit goes completely ballistic for the chorus with rapid-fire drumming and a ridiculously-catchy hook. Then you have an epic breakdown with some nasty riffing and nifty synth line. Fuck me sideways, this is a great song.
Mass Romantic’s only low point is “To Wild Homes”, not exactly a bad song, but it definitely lacks the structure and instant catchiness of the album’s other tracks. And for some reason the vocals are completely buried in the mix. FUCK. The rest of the album is power pop brilliance that you will love and cherish.
8.5/10
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