This is the debut album by Vancouver's legendary übergroup, The New Pornographers. Blaine Thurier ("Low Self-Esteem Girl"), Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor), Dan Bejar (Destroyer), John Collins (The Evaporators, Thee Goblins), and Kurt Dahle (Limblifter) - along with Neko Case on selected lead and accompaniment - present this: an epic, baroque masterpiece of such hyperbolic grandeur that if it were a painting, one would not be able to stop studying it lest a vital detail be overlooked.... Okay, not quite... but close! From September 2000 to now, the band and album have had a whirlwind crazy rollercoaster ride of critical and public success.
Just about every last three-minute thrill-pop epic on the fantastic Mass Romantic album sounds like money in the bank. They've managed to bring together the most commercial elements of early-'80s new wave with an avant-glam blast of vintage Roxy Music and T-Rex boogie for a shout-along sound that has eluded both Weezer and Guided by Voices. - NOW