John Collins, Carl Newman, Neko Case, Todd Fancey, and Kathryn Calder of the New Pornographers.
First Thought Fridays is a (mostly) weekly column offering quick-hit takes on some of the albums released this week, serving up first impressions, favorite or least favorite songs, and whether or not they’re worth a second listen. Check back for more each Friday night or Saturday morning
The new release calendar has overflowed lately, so I’m taking advantage of the relatively slower week this week to catch up on a few things from the past few weeks. My previously promised Courtney Barnett review has blossomed into something big enough that it’ll be published outside of this column as its own article in the coming days. But the stacked March 27 releases finally appear here with the New Pornographers and Snail Mail (and I have another half dozen reviews in partially written state, but this column is long enough as it is!), plus a couple power pop gems from April 10, while this week is represented by the new They Might Be Giants LP that dropped on Tuesday. Read on!
The New Pornographers, The Former Site Of (Merge): When I first discovered the New Pornographers with their 2003 sophomore effort Electric Version, I had just started getting heavily into power pop thanks to artists like Sloan and Matthew Sweet. Still, it was like a bomb went off, songs that were huge and catchy and effervescent, yet also rough around the edges with quirky, often cryptic lyrics. This was a band that wrote a song called “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism” and made it one of the giddiest, most joyful things you’ve ever heard. As time went on and the membership of the band shifted in and out, their sound expanded, working in slower, more contemplative songs and hypnotic, krautrock-inspired tunes into their repertoire. As that happened, though, the band still dependably delivered a steady stream of power pop bangers, from 2005’s “Sing Me Spanish Techno” to 2014’s “Brill Bruisers” to 2017’s “High Ticket Attractions” to 2019’s “Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile.” Coming out of the pandemic, 2023’s Continue as a Guest didn’t exactly have any power pop bangers per se, but it utilized burbling electronics and bright synthesizers to give the whole thing an uplifting feel, a sort of hope that everything might just be alright.
Life in American during Trump 2.0 has clearly got New Pornographers leader Carl Newman feeling far less optimistic, as The Former Site Of is the first New Pornos album to not have any of that old effervescent energy. The instrumentation is more muted, low key, and melancholy throughout, and Newman delivers his vocal in a defeated hush, like he’s trying not to wake the upstairs neighbors. The songs are beautiful, to be sure, and not out of line with the slower songs that peppered, say, 2007’s Challengers or 2009’s Together. But still, it’s a welcome change whenever Neko Case and Kathryn Calder’s harmonies arrive to brighten the mood, particularly on “Votive,” the closest to an upbeat melody here.
This probably sounds like a negative review, but honestly, my attitude is less “I didn’t like this record” and more “this isn’t what I’m usually looking for in a New Pornographers record,” and it’s kind of throwing me for a loop. Considering I’ve greeted my first couple listens of literally every New Pornos album since, um, 2005, with “Well, that was good, but not as good as the earlier ones” only to reconsider that opinion over time and fall in love with every album in time, I’m more than willing to stick with The Former Site Of. Newman’s melodicism is still in full effect…I just need some time to get on his wavelength, I think. And, of course, I liked it enough to snag tickets to the band’s upcoming (though, sadly, Neko-less) show September 23 at the Sheldon. Will I Listen Again?: Yes.
Snail Mail, Ricochet (Matador): Valentine, Lindsey Jordan’s 2021 sophomore release under the moniker Snail Mail, represented a refinement of her sound, polishing the lo-fi bedroom pop of her earlier releases with studio sheen without losing its inherent indie-ness. Following five years later, Ricochet leaps even further in that regard, sporting a clean sound heavily reminiscent of latter-day Liz Phair and the Lilith Fair sound of the late ‘90s, the kind of stuff 101.1 The River would have been all over back in the day. That is absolutely not a complaint—when those poppy, radio-ready “na-na-nas” come in at the tail end of “Dead End,” it’s pure windows-down, volume-up bliss. The highlight of the record is the heartbreaker “Cruise” with its yearning vocal performance buoyed by melancholy cello and mournful trumpet. “Agony Freak” is also a fun one, a snarling, grungy number that Jordan delivers with a sneer. But really, it’s all pretty great—great enough that it sent me back to reevaluate the rest of her discography, which I liked even more than I remembered. Will I Listen Again?: Definitely.
Marc Valentine, Uncommon Side Effects (Wicked Cool Records): On his third LP, UK-based musician Marc Valentine serves up a platter of pure power pop, all crunchy guitars, medium tempos, peppy drums, and super-catchy melodies, with particularly impressive lead guitar work that is clean and simple but imminently ear-catching. Some may find the vocals slightly more divisive, as Valentine sings in a kind of snarky whine common in many 21st century power pop bands, resulting in a sound that’s as if New Found Glory’s Jordan Pundik were fronting Cheap Trick. That’s not a dealbreaker for yours truly, and I really enjoyed the album’s sunny, bouncy vibes. There is one ballad, “Hanging on a Dream,” that slides in at track 7 and drags the momentum down, but the album recovers immediately with “Temporary Buzz,” the most aggressively rockin’ song here. It’s also probably the best song here, though “You Are the Jet” and “High in the Underground” (whose opening riff is a dead ringer for Judas Priest’s “Living After Midnight,” of all things) aren’t far behind. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
The Yum Yum Tree, Turn Down the Noise (Somerset Sound): Another album on the power pop tip, the Yum Yum Tree were one of Atlanta’s most beloved bands during the 2000s before entering into a decade-long hiatus in 2008. The band reunited as a live concern starting in 2019, but Turn Down the Noise marks the band’s first release of new music in 19 years. This album is the sound of ‘60s girl groups filtered through the melodicism of ‘70s power pop and the rapid-fire energy of 2000s lo-fi garage rock revivalism, built off Andy Gish’s sassy, brazzy vocals and sharply observed lyrics. Favorite tunes: the Jenny Lewis-ish shuffle “Shine,” the giddy drill-in-your-head hook of “My Corner,” and the chiming guitars of “Pretty Dress.” As the album goes on, the tempos slow, but these pretty ballads land just as well as the upbeat early tracks, particularly fuzzy torch song “Porchlight” and album closer “What We Don’t Talk About,” where the guitars ring more than clang. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
The Lords of Altamont, Forever Loaded (Heavy Psych Sounds): The L.A.-based Lords of Altamont have been churning out their patented blend of psychedelic-tinged garage rock for a quarter century, a sound so authentic that at various times their revolving door lineup has included former members of the Cramps and MC5. The MC5 is a pretty good touchstone to compare the Lords to, as are Swedish garage rock revivalists the Hellacopters. This is an album that gets by on attitude, Jake “The Preacher” Cavaliere’s vocal sneer, and Dani Sindaco’s scuzzy, muscular guitars. Its sonic consistency makes this one of those “if you like any song on this, you’ll probably like every song on this” sort of albums, though for my money, the best of the best are “Got a Hold on Me,” “What’s Your Bag,” and “Rusty Guns.” The one disappointment is “I Got Your Number” (as in “from the bathroom wall”), whose lyrics are dopey enough to be a solid skip. “Twisted Black” is a solid closer, though, like a psychedelic Motorhead song. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
They Might Be Giants, The World Is to Dig (Idlewild Recordings): After looking past the band’s output for way too long, I checked back in with alt-pop jokesters They Might Be Giants with their Eyeball teaser EP back in January and was duly impressed. “Eyeball” doesn’t make an appearance on this full-length follow-up (nor do any of the EP’s other tracks), and that’s too bad because I feel like The World Is to Dig could use some of its oddball energy, as The World Is to Dig leans heavily into a loungey, big band vibe that took a while to really grab me. Much like the New Pornographers album reviewed up top, this reaction could likely be chalked up to my own personal expectations (“Dear John and John, please be 30% quirkier. I am not a crackpot.”) rather than any actual shortcomings the album may possess. The songs that did grab me the most: “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” sings from the perspective of a band trying to make it with tongue planted firmly in cheek, “Character Flaw” is a bouncy, totally old skool TMBG jam, and “They Might Be Feral” is a ‘70s-inspired jam that feels at times like a Jay Ferguson Sloan jam that contains the album’s best couplet (“A supervillain with an evil quota/ Or super nice a la Minnesota”). Will I Listen Again?: Probably. | Jason Green
