Album reviews

With its third release, the Vancouver-based indie-pop ensemble The New Pornographers finally seem to have learned what makes critics putty. Make a debut album full of part-retro, part-lollipop singles, follow it up with a letdown sophomore release, then strike back with the essential ‘expanding your sound’ campaign on your third attempt and you can, too. By all accounts, Twin Cinema is intricate, addictive and worth a listen. Every song is strong but manages to avoid the repetitive nausea incurred by mainstream crock-pop singles by pushing the band's sound in a new direction with each subsequent track. In this respect, it is perhaps the most consistent album of the summer, reminiscent of such works as The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow or Belle & Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress. As a pop album, the hooks are subtle and staggered throughout, wherein lies the album's charm, and also it's flaw: no single song can outdo the two or three top tunes from their first installment Mass Romantic. While it doesn’t have that knockout track characteristic of truly great albums, Twin Cinema can only accelerate The New Pornographers’ ascension into the critical and popular spotlight. The immediate gratification is less, but the staying power surpasses anything The New Pornographers have ever made. Tickets for their October 16th show in Chapel Hill are scarce if not already sold out.