As hard as it may be to believe and as blasphemous as many of you may find the following statement, “I have never listened to The New Pornographers and I can’t name, nor sing, any of their songs.” I can hear your collective gasp right about now. Sure, I’m a fan of Neko Case and Carl “A.C.” Newman, but when it comes to The New Pornographers, I must plead ignorance. Sorry to disappoint. One thing that didn’t disappoint me is A.C. Newman’s new album Get Guilty. This guy writes some of the best indie-pop songs this side of [insert someone’s name here]. I’m not a huge fan of indie-pop in general as some (or most) of you may know, but there is something about the wide and sweeping instrumentation and obtuse (but not angular) melodies on Get Guilty that make me love this album. It’s kinda weird but I do. Well, maybe it isn’t that surprising since I also love “Miracle Drug” from The Slow Wonder a lot. This album has many many memorable moments but it seems that they unwrap themselves a little more with each listen; what I mean is that things aren’t necessarily all that straightforward. The songs are mired in a sort of retro 60’s pop sound but have some pretty awesome guitar passages that are almost skronky in nature. So, yeah, much of it has a sorta Wes Anderson-ish vibe. If I was to condense this album into a single sentence, it would go something like this: the first 5 songs on the album are about as perfect a start to an indie-pop album as I’ve ever heard, and even though Get Guilty loses some steam during its second half, it is still way better than average. I think that sums up Get Guilty pretty well.
MP3 | A.C. Newman – There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve Get Guilty
MP3 | A.C. Newman – Like A Hitman, Like A Dancer Get Guilty
I was a big Zumpano fan, so it’s nice to hear Carl still churning out the symphonic pop layers.
Awesome! I have never listened to The New Pornographers either but I love Slow Wonder… I will have to give this album a listen!
I wanted to stop reading when you said you have never listened to The New Pornographers… how does that even happen to someone in their life? Are there more of your kind out there?
I’m afraid… seriously though – you’ll find Get Guilty to be more mirrored of The New Pornographers than A.C. Newman’s earlier work – especially the first five songs. You should check The NP’s out if you dug the album.
In case your readers would care for another perspective on this record, they can read my review – http://www.dryvetymeonlyne.com/2009/01/06/ac-newman-get-guilty – at my website.
Yeah,
I just don’t like The New Pornographers. They seem too contrived to me. Love Neko Case, though.
I completely relate to that NP’s ignorance….at least until this time last week. The Neko/AC releases made me wonder how they’d combine together, so I picked up ‘Twin Cinema’. It smacks you right from the first listen with melodic, pop-sensible joy. I’m excited to dig further into their releases now and wish I’d taken the prompt earlier.