111: The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic (2000)
“It’s strange when you’ve been in a band for so long. It’s like every family thinks they’re the craziest family, and I think to myself, ‘Are we the craziest band?’ And who knows? We’re all inside of it, and we don’t really have any perspective. But I think we might be the craziest band.”
—Carl Newman
The New Pornographers winkingly call themselves an “indie rock supergroup,” even though none of their members were performing before crowds larger than 200 when they formed. Since then, they’ve grown into critical darlings with a cult following and an intimidating spread of studio albums and solo releases, but they were never scrappier, hungrier, and more fascinating than on their 2000 debut, Mass Romantic. Buoyed by bandleader Carl “A.C.” Newman’s sturdy pop songwriting, Dan Bejar’s looser, more whimsical compositions, and Neko Case’s superhuman vocals, the album packs six or seven hooks into every song. The results are both exhilarating and exhausting, and that ebullient energy is exactly why Rich has loved them for more than two decades. If you’ve never listened to the New Pornos before but enjoy great pop music, we hope this becomes a new favorite – because, after all, hope grows greener than grass stains.
Miscellany
The New Pornographers’ new album Continue as a Guest comes out March 23, and is the band’s first record on indie label Merge Records. As Carl Newman noted on Twitter, this gives the band the distinction of having released albums on the indie triad of Matador, Merge, and Sub Pop.
Carl Newman, Neko Case, and John Collins appeared on an episode of the Matador Records podcast Revisionist History to discuss the making of Mass Romantic. It’s an interesting discussion, and one of the interviewers is singer/songwriter and boygenius member Julien Baker.
Some other New Pornographers solo releases that are worth hearing are Neko Case’s The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You; Destroyer’s Streethawk: A Seduction, Have We Met, and Labyrinthitis; and Kathryn Calder’s excellent 2015 self-titled album.
Blaine Thurier directed the music videos for “The Laws Have Changed” and “All for Swinging You Around” from Electric Version and “Use It” from Twin Cinema. Their videos are usually fun, and often don’t include the band: the video for “Moves,” directed by Tom Scharpling, features a cast of celebrities impersonating the Pornographers, and the “Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile” video can basically be described as a Ministry of Silly Walks flash mob.
Rich neglected to point this out during the episode, but Cheeky A.C. Newman Catchphrase #2 is “Salvation hold out central” from “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism.”
Mike’s “holy jawrs” comment is a reference to the Electric Light Orchestra song “Boy Blue,” and for context and much more, check out his great episode on their 1974 album Eldorado.
Other links
The New Pornographers' official website (thenewpornographers.com)
Carl Newman talks about every song on Mass Romantic (Stereogum)
Mass Romantic remastered edition (Matador)
Discord & Rhyme’s Mass Romantic playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Rich Bunnell (host)
Benjamin Marlin (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Dan Watkins
Mass Romantic tracklist
Mass Romantic
The Fake Headlines
My Slow Descent into Alcoholism
Mystery Hours
Jackie
Letter from an Occupant
To Wild Homes
The Body Says No
Execution Day
Centre for Holy Wars
The Mary Martin Show
Breakin’ the Law
Other clips used
The New Pornographers:
The Laws Have Changed
Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile
The End of Medicine
Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
Think About Me
My Rights Versus Yours
Throw Her Away (And Get a New One)
Backstairs
Use It
July Jones
This Is the World of the Theater
The Bleeding Heart Show
Others:
Zumpano - The Party Rages On
The Evaporators - I Can't Be Shaved!
Destroyer - No Cease Fires! (Crimes Against the State of Our Love, Baby)
Neko Case and Her Boyfriends - The Virginian
The Age of Electric - Remote Control
Pink Floyd - Sheep
The Cars - Bye Bye Love
Tubeway Army - Me! I Disconnect from You
Destroyer - An Actor’s Revenge
Brian Eno - Needles in the Camel’s Eye
Fleetwood Mac - I Know I’m Not Wrong
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Sparks - Tips for Teens
XTC - Funk Pop a Roll
Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
The Fall - Hip Priest
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
Giorgio Moroder - Son of My Father
Sparks - Alabamy Right
Neko Case - Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth
Guided by Voices - Wire Greyhounds
Roxy Music - Editions of You
Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow
Destroyer - Breakin' the Law
Destroyer - Chinatown
Neko Case - Star Witness
A.C. Newman - Secretarial
Neko Case - Things That Scare Me
Band/album personnel
Dan Bejar – vocals, multi-instruments, Korg synthesizer, pipe organ, Wurlitzer
David Carswell – producer
Neko Case – vocals
Davidian Chorley – saxophone (8, 11)
John Collins – bass, producer, engineer
Kurt Dahle – drums, vocals
Carl Newman – vocals, Korg synthesizer, pipe organ, Wurlitzer
Fisher Rose – drums (4, 6, 9, 12)
Blaine Thurier – keyboards
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
The New Pornographers - Jackie (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Mass Romantic and other albums by the New Pornographers at www.thenewpornographers.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.