Artist: AC Newman
Title: Get Guilty
Carl Newman's previous solo album (2004's The Slow Wonder) had some stripped down, mildly wiry rockers, and though it did sound at times like a collection of New Pornographers' demos, there were also some other ideas being worked out, mostly about how weird the hooks could be while remaining catchy. ("The Battle for Straight Time", for example, sounded like it was working around a GBV riff played backwards). This one, by comparison, is more fully flushed out, making it sound rather more like a collection of New Pornographers b-sides, right down to the liberal application of Neko-esque backing vox. This is not entirely grounds for complaint, as nothing here is less than catchy. But there are less gems here, and I kept waiting for the Bejar or Case-led songs to switch things up a bit. Not something I'm going to listen to closely and at great length right now, but this feels like the sort of album I'll hear again in the background a few years from now and think to myself, "that sounds rather good." And pull it down off the shelf and enjoy.
Title: Get Guilty
Carl Newman's previous solo album (2004's The Slow Wonder) had some stripped down, mildly wiry rockers, and though it did sound at times like a collection of New Pornographers' demos, there were also some other ideas being worked out, mostly about how weird the hooks could be while remaining catchy. ("The Battle for Straight Time", for example, sounded like it was working around a GBV riff played backwards). This one, by comparison, is more fully flushed out, making it sound rather more like a collection of New Pornographers b-sides, right down to the liberal application of Neko-esque backing vox. This is not entirely grounds for complaint, as nothing here is less than catchy. But there are less gems here, and I kept waiting for the Bejar or Case-led songs to switch things up a bit. Not something I'm going to listen to closely and at great length right now, but this feels like the sort of album I'll hear again in the background a few years from now and think to myself, "that sounds rather good." And pull it down off the shelf and enjoy.
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