But from a powerpop standpoint, it’s the New Pornographers’ world to create or destroy as they see fit, and Twin Cinema succeeds primarily because it doesn’t come on too strong at first. Pop tends to overwhelm people with its saccharine exuberance — as fabulous as Fountains of Wayne are, you can’t really blame people who flee the room in terror when “Stacy’s Mom” cranks up — and the first couple Pornographers albums are similarly daunting. Whether it was Newman bouncing merrily through a insidiously catchy tune entitled “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism” or No Depression-subscriber heartthrob Neko Case belting out “Letter to an Occupant” like a melodically gifted nuclear foghorn, 2000’s Mass Romantic was one highly enjoyable but incredibly visceral aural ice-cream headache, and while 2003’s Electric Version threw in a few moments of calm and subtlety and relaxation, it can probably still technically cause diabetes.
