The worst thing about “supergroups” is fitting them all in a 400×225 image, you know?
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[6.00]
Jessica Doyle: Having turned my head sideways and squinted a few times, I have finally concluded that this is a warning to left-leaning Canadian voters not to place too much faith in Justin Trudeau’s multi-dimensionally attractive policy positioning. Which, fair enough: and just because a lot of us down south would be quite happy with a head of government saying nice things to refugees at Pearson Airport in between one-handed-pushup displays doesn’t mean y’all can’t have higher standards. But there’s no momentum in the medium, and that bridge in particular is quite boring. It is an unusually tense time, politically speaking; but that doesn’t make a lack of effort more compelling just by contrast.
[4]
Juana Giaimo: When I think of The New Pornographers, I think of power pop melodies sung with such energy as if giving away all the air in their lungs wasn’t enough to express the emotions in them. “High Ticket Attractions” has the melodies — upbeat, slightly raw and catchy — but I really miss that desperation for living.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Listeners know the script for this high ticket attraction: rhythm strums, call-and-response Neko, keyboard loop, and Carl Newman weaving skeins of words that he hopes cohere into something approaching emotional states. As a friend said over the phone, “Are you listening to ‘Beautiful Stranger’?”
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: No one these days is making better early/mid-’80s AOR than New Pornographers. Neko Case’s harmony voice keeps things just sweet enough, as do the synths tucked away in the chorus. This is like Asia ’81 x Quarterflash ’82, and it equals a
[9]
Rachel Bowles: This is essentially a postmodern “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for “millennial” indie kids and backpackers. When everything is mediated, recorded, and hyperreal, there is great cultural capital in the importance of being “there” and having “authentic” experiences. Anything else can be easily replaced.
[7]
Anthony Easton: The ambition of this is exciting, it reaches towards Van Dyke Parks, but it moves too quickly. and the vocals kind of collapse trying to catch up. It would be even more interesting if the choruses pushed through, allowing a kind of pogo/spitting lyrics, instead of sticking to the same kind of energy.
[3]
Edward Okulicz: The verses with the echoing call-and-responses are super-fun. So, like the song says, it could go two ways — a killer chorus and it’s an 8 or a 9… Alas…
[6]