Customer Reviews

Mass Romantic

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Put aside for the moment that "Mass Romantic", "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism" and, most importantly, "Letter From an Occupant" are three of the greatest pop songs ever written, with hooks so catchy you'll be singing them all day (week?month?year?) long. Temporarily ignore that this is a breakthrough performance by Neko Case, whose pipes rival those of any singer in country or rock (especially on "Occupant," which, in a paralell universe I wished I inhabited, has been #1 on the charts for six months).

No, what really sticks out about this record is that, having listened to it numerous times now, I can't remember ever hearing an album with this much enthusiasm, that sounded like it was as much fun to record as it is to listen to. I mean, in every song these guys are tripping over each other in a rush to get to the chorus, like it's the only thing that'll save their lives. Like, um, music mattered. If it matters to you, then this gem comes with the highest of recommendations.

The New Pornographers, a collective of indie artists from Vancouver, have created an album that's so catchy, so sugary-sweet that it leaves you with a sugar rush while overflowing like sodapop fizz. Every single song on Mass Romantic possesses hooks that stay in your head forever.

The songs, written by Zumpano's Carl Newman and Destroyer's Dan Bejar, contain enigmatic, clever lyrics ("Hope grows greener than grass stains") and lift styles from bands like Devo, The Cars, the Go-Go's, The Beatles (of course), Elvis Costello & The Attractions, and the Beach Boys; at one point you even hear Supertramp's influence. If a band can steal a hook from Supertramp, the worst band in rock history, and make it sound good, you know you have something special in your hands.

Four of the band's members share vocal duties, but it's Neko Case who steals the show. On the title track, and especially the glorious 'Letter From An Occupant', Case, who moonlights as a terrific country singer, joyously belts out the tunes a la Belinda Carlisle. 'Letter From An Occupant' could very well be the best song I've heard this year. During the bridge two minutes into the song (where they sing "the song, the song that's shakin' me"), you feel it will just peter out and fade out, but the band decides to prolong the fun a bit more and repeats the chorus, complete with its 'woo-ooh' harmony vocals, for another minute. Absolutely perfect. The repeat button on your cd player was made for songs like this.

Every song is great, but other standouts are 'The Fake Headlines', the humourously self-deprecating 'The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism', and the gleeful 'The Body Says No'.

Lately Canada has been producing musical bores that are either pretentious, soul-gushing female Lilith Fair-types or dull, sound-alike alterna-bands that play the same outdated tuneless grungy sludge. The New Pornographers show there's hope for Canadian music, and this one-off project is too great to yield only one album. here's hoping we'll hear more from them in the years to come.

This record sounds like it was a blast to make, and each pop gem on here is tackled with ferociously infectious enthusiasm. Like all great pop rock, it heads straight for your pleasure receptors and refuses to stop tickling. The other reviews here are right in mentioning the antecedents (Kinks, Beach Boys, Beatles, Zombies, Big Star, Cheap Trick, Cars, Guided By Voices, whatever) but they really matter very little. This kind of music isn't out to innovate, it's out to intoxicate. Though Neko Case is hailed as added "star power," her great performances are really just another seamless element in a band that is all about delivering hook-packed songs with joyful abandon. The other singers in this band are quite gifted as well. And unlike a lot of pop/rock, it actually rocks.

The only thing holding this album back from a full 5 star review is the harshness of the recording--though it could be argued that also lends this record its charm, a la old Guided By Voices. But it's not really lo-fi; there is a certain harshness and lack of low end (digitally recorded?) that could turn off a picky person with a potato chip lodged in their posterior. Overall, they seem to have gotten a LOT out of a modest recording setup. There's also lots of delightful "no-nos", such as vocal cues left in--where the guy tells the band when the changes are coming up, which I love--adding to the unpretentious lack of seriousness and sense of total spontaneous fun. After reading about this record, I finally got off the fence, and it's the best record I've bought in a long time.

Creating an album with bands like The Beach Boys and The Zombies serving as primary reference points along side a healthy dose of new wave doesn't seem like the surest formula of success in the year 2000. And in fact the debut by The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic, has to be the most anachronistically poppy album I've heard in ages, but somehow it works. Carl Newman, formerly of Zumpano, has assembled his favorite fellow Canadian popsters on these twelve tracks for the express purpose of hashing out some of the most blissful hooks this side of Radio City, and they don't disappoint.

Of course the album is really buoyed by the presence of Neko Case, who delivers vocals on two of the album's highlights, the title track and "Letter From an Occupant." Just for the idea of casting country crooner Case as a pop vocalist, the album deserves special attention, but Case's presence is no gimmick - her tracks are two of the album's strongest. "Mass Romantic" carries over some Nashville stylings from Case's solo career, but it's "Letter From an Occupant," the album's best track, which stands out. This is pure pop music, made especially for people who won't take their pop without lots of oohing vocal lines to sing along to.

What's really incredible about Mass Romantic is the degree of consistency the album offers. From the opening drumstick countoff of "Mass Romantic" all the way through to the off-kilter "Breakin' The Law," Mass Romantic is constantly engaging and listenable. The only caveat I'd offer is that music like this inevitably has a limited shelf life, and tracks like "Execution Day" and "The Mary Martin Show" don't shine with the same exuberance after repeated listens as most of the other songs here.

So don't expect anything new. Just expect that you'll be humming tunes like "The Fake Headlines" and "The Body Says No" to yourself for the next several months at least. Big guitars, goofy organ lines, and unbearably memorable choruses are what this band is all about, not pushing the envelope of sound. But everyone needs a shot of shamelessly syrupy melodies in their life, so those whose hearts aren't slabs of concrete should feel free to open up and let this little gem brighten things up a little.

So, I hear a catchy song on the radio...I think "Damn, that's good!" and each time it comes on the radio I tend to turn it up a bit louder and am now able to sing along (badly, granted) to it's little tune. But being the cynic I tend to be, I often wait to hear if there is another song by the band that gets me going. Problem was that with The New Pornographers each song the station played sounded totally different, different styles from pop to twang to an 80's sounding diddy...and man, I loved each one but had a hard time putting it together that this was all the same group effort...call me slow.

And then I did it, I took the big plunge, I bought the CD. And I can't stop talking about it...my friends are sick of hearing it every time they get in the car with me, sick of me carrying it from car to house and putting it on immediately, sick of me telling them they need to hunt down a copy. If it was still Christmas and I wasn't so broke they would all have a copy in their possession.

See, the thing is, that first catchy song, "Letter From An Occupant" has to be one of the best songs of 2000. No doubt. Neko Cases's vocals are infectious and I have to sing along at the top of my lungs with her, tapping my fingers to the crazy beat. And when the CD came on to track number one the first time, "Mass Romantic"...same thing! And I'm thinking "I have hit the payload!" But then my favorite song came on "The Fake Headlines" and when I heard this song I was having a horrible day and even though I was loving this album I was a blue girl...and I couldn't help it, this song made me smile. A slow little grin just took over. Something about the way it starts out so calm and mellow and when you are being sucked in it all of a sudden just explodes with this guitar riff...and oh this song is best explored at top notch volume. And "Mystery Hours"...seriously, each song is solid on it's own right.

I don't know the influences of this band (I could guess many), I don't know what to compare them to...I just know it's a damn fine album that won't disappoint many with it's variety and mood. It just sounds like these musicians had a fun ass time making this album.

Now I wait to see them live so I can sing along with them. It won't be pretty, but I know I won't be able to help myself.

Do the lyrics make sense? Maybe. Are they sung with the conviction that they make sense? Yes. Add to this, and more importantly, layers of pop-hook gorgeousness with organ, guitar, horns, everything, and both male and female lead vocals. This gives you a consistently great pop record (in the old school sense) that clearly displays influences without being derivative. A mix of Kinks, Cheap Trick, Beach Boys, maybe some Go-Gos, just a great, catchy record. Listen once and it is OK, listen twice and you have a problem taking it out of your CD player. A big, enjoyable problem. Absolute standout tracks are Mass Romantic, Letter from an Occupant, My Slow Descent into Alcoholism, and the Mary Martin Show.

As of this review, "The New Pornographers" is the most recent band I've fallen in love with. After I couldn't take "Twin Cinema" out of my cd player, I purchased their other three releases and like them all. "Twin Cinema" is an absolute classic and one of my favorite cds released in the 2000's. Of the four albums, however, I would say that the band's debut, "Mass Romantic," is probably the N.P.'s weakest, although there are a number of terrific songs. I guess the four I'd name are "Mass Romantic," "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism," "Letter from an Occupant" and "The Mary Martin Show." As any N.P. fan knows, one can debate the band's "influences," but I think everyone would agree that touches of the Kinks and the latter-day Beach Boys can be heard.

I think what makes the three subsequent albums better (and, in the case of "Twin Cinema," an out-and-out classic) is the superior integration of Dan Bejar and Neko Case with the consistently great Carl Newman. There's something uniquely joyous about this band -- sophisticated and child friendly at the same time. My one main criticism on "Mass Romantic" is that the Bejar songs can be somewhat grating on the nerves -- but his songwriting would improve on the later albums, and, especially with "Twin Cinema" and Challengers," blend in perfectly with Newman's contributions. Neko Case's voice, while perfectly suitable for the songs she sings on this album, developed into something quite special later on.

If you're not already, you should become a fan of "The New Pornographers." They're sensational.

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." Instead, he might have said something like, "Not a letter from an occupa-a-a-ant! Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-wee-ooh-ooh!" Mass Romantic is a direct challenge to those who would dare to suggest that good pop music is thing of the past. Energetic, smooth, and masterfully executed, Mass Romantic is the catchiest thing to come out in ages. And the unique combination of Carl Newman's Brian Wilson-esque arrangements, Neko Case's powerful wail, and Dan Bejar's unique, off-kilter songwriting make it the first great straightforward pop record of the new century. Mass Romantic is one of those rare albums that's easy to sing along to, but impossible to sing along to well. --Matt LeMay

Of course I'm speaking of that brainchild Carl Newman, fronter of the band Zumpano and their two SubPop releases. Everytime I play their "Changes" album, I have withdrawls for more material. That said, I have three thoughts to describe this album (someone heard my prayers!):

1) Carl is still making music--the music world has some hope.

2) His "Going Thru Changes" is one of my favorites of all-time.

3) His debut from his new project is even BETTER.

The talk is about Neko Case singing on "Occupant" and the Madness-style of "Alcholism"--both great songs. However, in my book has there been a more perfect pop song than "Body Says No"? I wish I could get that to my local AAA station. Simply an outstanding, wonderful debut.

They sound British, but they come from Canada. Unless you've heard of Neko Case, you never heard of any of the band members. And that's all you know about them. All you *need* to know now is that The New Pornographers rock you. Regardless of your size, shape, culture or creed, they rock you.

The New Pornographers came about, somehow, when a bunch of different people from a bunch of unsuccessful bands got together and decided to make an album. The result is a power pop masterpiece, the likes of which may not have been seen since Weezer's first album. Unlike Weezer, however, there are no slow songs on this album. There's nothing acoustic. The entire thing sticks to a steady loud volume, a pure true Brit-power-pop ideal. It's that "wall of sound" technique. Just take a look at those song times. Only two songs are just below three minutes, and one just at four minutes. The ideal power pop song time frame. It almost seems like it should be a concept album, and maybe it is.

The album goes back to the glory days of power pop. Think The Pixies playing music written by New Wave bands, with Brian Wilson singing Elvis Costello and Stephen Malkmus' words. You were thinking that unabashedly feel-good music with chunky hooks six ways from Sunday weren't in style anymore? This will hopefully teach you otherwise. There is not a bad song on the album. They even turn a rocking good time out of a man singing about his alcoholism. Other strange topics include, as you can see, holy wars and executions.

My favorite songs include "Jackie" which has a nasal-voiced man singing about this girl's strange views on politics and the future. Trust me, you'll get caught up in it totally and find yourself singing "Jackie! Hey-hey-hey-hey, Jackie! Hey-hey-hey-hey, Jackie!" every time. Not to mention the Beach Boys bridge interlude with has a round of three guys singing "Are you gonna start the sunshine?" Matt LeMay of Pitchforkmedia called this album, and I'm paraphrasing here, "the most fun album to sing along to, and also one of the hardest to sing along with." Case in point, just try to hit the exact notes Neko Case (pun unintended) does in "Letter To An Occupant." It's nearly impossible, for whatever reason. She goes off like a siren on this one. Strangely enough, this is the one that the record will be remembered for. It sounds like something from back in time. It's monumentally radio-friendly. Here, as on the record as a whole, they get by on a lot of "Dee-doo-doo-dee-doo"'s and "Wooo-ooh-weee-oooh"'s that are just as catchy as Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" or any of the Beach Boys harmonizing.

Any further description gets kind of repetitive. I'll put it this way. Imagine a big juicy hamburger, with all of the fixings, and you eat the whole thing. That's the same feeling Mass Romantic leaves. It's big, dense, tasty, and very satisfying.