The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema

The third New Pornographers record is actually a time machine. No, not because it sounds like any particular band from the 60s, 70s, or any other decade, but because it reminds you of a time when indie music was first getting big in the mid-90s.

With the success of Nirvana, bands like Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., Liz Phair, Beck, and eventually bands like Weezer briefly gained some exposure. All of these bands had a hit that may have been limited to airtime on MTV’s “120 Minutes” or spun as a favorite on the LA radio show “Rodney on the ROQ.”

Listening to the title track of Twin Cinema, I’m instantly transported back to that time of new and angular rock music that always seemed kind of fun and happy. It also reminds me how those special few tracks got attention while entire albums have faded into wispy memories.

While Twin Cinema’s 14 songs are fine in their own right, nothing comes close to the power of that first title track. Songs such as “Use It” and “Jackie, Dressed in Cobras” approach the mixture of intensity and pure pop-inspired songwriting bliss, but can’t match that feeling you get from hearing the first notes of Twin Cinema, and I doubt anything ever will.

I’m not saying that it’s the perfect song and I’m not saying that the rest of the album isn’t great as well (anybody familiar with the first two albums from this indie rock pop powerhouse knows they won’t be disappointed) – all I’m saying is, something rad happens within the first five seconds of this record, and the result is dressed in flannel shirts and jeans, but has no idea what “grunge” is.

– Chris Smith
The New Pornographers (Matador Records)