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A.C. Newman
The Slow Wonder
(Matador)
by Joe O’Brien
Anyone
up for a round of
The $100,000 Pyramid?
Of course
you are. Ready?
Umm…free health care….
um, um…tolerant marijuana laws…
A.C. Newman’s The Slow Wonder-
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That’s right! “Gifts
the Canadian Government Has Given to its Citizens That the American
Government Can’t Give Because it’s Too Busy Spending
Money Building a Global Military Industrial Complex!”
Thankfully, the government-funded The Slow Wonder can
be enjoyed by anyone with a set of speakers, Canadian citizenship
or no Canadian citizenship. Not just a thoroughly brilliant
indie rock record, it may be one of the decade’s best
pop records, period. Just as he did for two albums as leader
of The New Pornographers, Newman seems to pull out bright, shining
melody after bright, shining melody as easily as if he were
plucking out blades of grass from his front lawn, and his lyrics,
which, because of all the hooks, you probably won’t pay
much attention to for the first ten listens or so, are literate
yet cryptic, and often contrast the buoyant melodies with somewhat
(but not always) saddening tales.
Such is the case on opening track “Miracle Drug,”
one of the record’s more direct descendants of The New
Pornographers’ 2003 release Electric Version.
The song drives and soars with exuberance, yet it tells us of
a down-on-his-luck writer imprisoned in his own home, “tied
to the bed with a miracle drug in one hand” and his rejected
novel in the other. The story may end with nothing more than
an ambiguous consolation prize for its hero, but the fierce
drum and guitar riffs transcend the lyrics' themes of fiery
frustration and certainly create a happy ending for the ears.
It's an instantly gratifying and infinitely re-playable first
chapter to an equally gratifying and re-playable collection. |
| The rest of the record bounces
between peppy rockers like "Miracle Drug" (“On
the Table,” "Secretarial", “The Town Halo”)
and bittersweet ballads that seem more personal than his contributions
as a New Pornographer (“Drink To Me, Babe, Then,”
“Come Crash”). There aren’t many, if any,
moments on Electric Version or Mass Romantic that
are as tender and simple as “Christine, come crash on
my floor.” He may have been serious about things like
his "slow descent into alcoholism" before, but he
usually masked sensitive subjects behind almost too-cheery-
but not so ironic as to become silly- melodies and arrangements.
On "Come Crash," he's sentimental but not over-dramatic,
and "35 in the Shade" is a fun nostalgia trip told
in yet even more cryptic poetry, as to avoid showing signs of
sap. Even though openly touching moments are also relatively
rare on The Slow Wonder, it’s a sign of Newman’s
maturation as a songwriter that these moments are starting to
poke through in his work. Like Wonder’s closest
recent peer, The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow, the
album shows Newman wearing his heart on the abstract sleeve
of his expertly crafted melodies and words, even if he's more
inclined than James Mercer to turn his melancholy into rawk.
And even though the dense lyricism may be indecipherable at
times, the words and sounds complement each other so perfectly
that in due time, The Slow Wonder may prove, like Chutes,
to be one of those few records that indie elitists and prime-time
soap-watching teens can all adore. Not that A.C. will find himself
guesting on Gilmore Girls anytime soon, but don’t
be surprised if “Come Crash” ends up on the soundtrack
of a very special The OC. |
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You
Dig? You’ll Dig…
The New Pornographers- Electric Version
The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow
Guided By Voices- Isolation Drills
The New Pornographers:
Electric Version
$13.99 @ Amazon.com
Guided By Voices:
Isolation Drills
$16.98 @ Amazon.com
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No
Bull: More Great Albums From Matador Records |
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Interpol:
Turn on the Bright Lights |
Belle
& Sebastian:
If You're Feeling Sinister |
Yo La
Tengo:
I Can Hear The Heart
Beating As One |
Cat Power:
You Are Free |
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