“He was tied to the bed with a miracle drug in his hand.” So begins A.C. Newman’s first solo record, The Slow Wonder, and — true to form — the opening lyric is a Newman special, cryptic and alluring, delivered via a candy-coated power-pop melody too tasty to do anything but indulge in.
Newman — of course, the de facto bandleader of Canuck indie-pop supergroup The New Pornographers, they of the deliciously big hooks and annual “best of the year” lists — striking out on his own begs the question: how does Newman’s brand of power-pop differentiate itself from your average New Pornos record? The answer: it doesn’t, not really, because New Pornos records are fairly Newman-heavy as is. The Slow Wonder plays like a New Pornographers record minus Dan Bejar’s slightly loopy (usually brilliant) contributions and Neko Case’s honeyed harmonies; which ranks it just south of the best New Pornos albums, but not much, because Newman’s songs are too well-composed from jump street to fail.
The Slow Wonder is a brisk, nimble power-pop record; where New Pornographers records are thick with classic power-pop, they rarely shy away from frills, making them rather shiny affairs. The Slow Wonder is a little more simple, a little more streamlined, songs making their point within three minutes and then turning the floor over to the next jam. “Miracle Drug”, album opener and finest track — and an easily finalist for power-pop song of the decade, let the record show — rides angular guitars and a jaunty stop-start drumbeat to glory, the thesis statement of A.C. Newman 101. “Drink To Me, Babe, Then” is a prolonged breath after the jaunty, fast “Miracle Drug”, and sounds a lot like “Sing Me Spanish Techno”.
The Slow Wonder‘s real strength is in knowing when to deploy pop tricks. It all sounds rather uniform — not staid or monotonous or anything, just… similar, is all — until the album’s final third, when Newman metes out little flourishes to shake things up. Horns swell on the pleasant, Beirut-esque “Cloud Prayer”, while “The Town Halo” provides the album’s most memorable riff with a jagged cello line. Without touches like this, The Slow Wonder would still be a pleasant pop album — but Newman is as crafty a songwriter and arranger as there is, and he knows how to bust up the monotony with interesting, innately musical flights of fancy.
Playlist track: “Miracle Drug”. It should be on all of your playlists, honestly.
Drew's Album of the Day 