Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

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

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Rich Bunnell (host)

  • Benjamin Marlin (moderator)

  • Mike DeFabio

  • Dan Watkins

Mass Romantic tracklist 

  1. Mass Romantic

  2. The Fake Headlines

  3. My Slow Descent into Alcoholism

  4. Mystery Hours

  5. Jackie

  6. Letter from an Occupant

  7. To Wild Homes

  8. The Body Says No

  9. Execution Day

  10. Centre for Holy Wars

  11. The Mary Martin Show

  12. 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.

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2024 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

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