Published on Nov 25, 2003
In the liner notes of
Mass Romantic, the first full-length album by Canadian
supergroup The New Pornographers, the band acknowledged that the
album was recorded over an extended period of time, in creative
bursts. Twelve creative bursts, to be precise.
Thanks to the exposure of Neko Case (still basically ignored by
mainstream, but worshipped by music geeks), The New Pornographers
have been getting attention by mainstream music media. There’s
nothing particularly new about
Mass Romantic; most of the music is reminiscent of 80s
alterna-power pop bands like The Replacements and the Cars, or 90s
Brit-pop. Even if originality isn’t the band’s strongest suit,
their energy and tight execution more than makes up for the lack of
new ideas.
The lyrics of
Mass Romantic were written by Dan Bejar and Carl Newman.
Both Bejar and Newman have a keen knack for writing depressing
lyrics (see “Execution Day” or “Letter From an Occupant”) and
surrounding them with candy-coated pop arrangements. Call it martyr
pop. The best example of this is “The Slow Descent Into
Alcoholism,” a song that will defy you to want to go out and invest
in a pogo stick. The song is deceptively simple and happy-sounding
until you hear Newman’s scream “Salvation, holdout central” for
about a dozen times. It’s an anthem that deserves to be mentioned
in the same sentence as Oasis’ “Cigarettes and Alcohol” for “best
song about debauchery in the past 20 years.”
Some songs are a tad too familiar for their own good. “The Body
Says No” is supposed to be sly and witty, but sounds precociously
close to Styx. The lyrics to “Mystery Hours” and “The Mary Martin
Show” seem to be too intelligent for their own good and sometimes,
when the band veers away from the discipline pop structure, they
buckle under their own ambitions.
Even with some tarnished songs,
Mass Romantic more than merits a purchase. Like Soundgarden,
the New Pornographers realized that the key to making an old
formula sound fresh is not by trying to wildly reinvent genres, but
to focus on three elements to making great tunes: dynamics,
dynamics, dynamics. Even if you have heard the type of music that
the Pornographers have played, it’s nearly impossible to resist the
urge to air-drum during the rousing climax of “To Wild Homes.”
Fans of Neko Case’s solo work may be in for a shock at the first
listen of
Mass Romantic. With the exception of “Letter From an
Occupant,” her vocals basically are reserved for background duties.
Be patient though — after a few listens, the music of
Mass Romantic is so infectious, you won’t care if she isn’t
taking center stage.