Sometimes, rarely, every now and then, infrequently, Canadians get something right.
I’ve got no excuse for not having listened to a New Pornos record before this. They’ve played both Lollapalooza and three blocks from my house at a Northwestern University concert, released a couple of well-received records, and been the subject of all kinds of hype since I first really got into music. It’s just a slip-up on my part, for which I apologize. Hey, it’s not all bad, though—if I had done my indie homework in the past, you might very well be reading about some other band that only ten people and a few dogs have heard of, with songs that make you understand why. Things could be much worse.
Twin Cinema is an all-around solid record. Does it make any greatest-of-all-time lists of mine? Nein. Will it receive any future spins from me? Fer shizzle. We all need some good old conventional indie pop in our lives, even if it is coming from north of the border. Plus, Neko Case is in the band. Considering that she has one of the greatest album covers in history, the Pornos get some major brownie points on that front. No, the lyrics aren’t exactly what I’d call coherent, but as one astute Swole reader points out, lyrics can sometimes be “aesthetic,” and still “good.” So no, I don’t really go “after picking the glass off the ground” or “after shaking the thing for a sound” (Sing Me Spanish Techno), but hey, it sounds cool. Who am I to hate?
Swole Ear 