New Pornographers – Mass Romantic

Mass Romantic is the debut album from a collective of Vancouver-based indie rockers, including members of Destroyer, Zumpano and The Evaporators, along with Neko Case.

Although not a commercial success on its release, the album did win a 2001 Juno Award for Best Alternative Album and garnered strong reviews in the music media:

• AllMusic gave it 4.5 stars out of 5
• CBC Radio ranked it at 36th on its list of the 100 Greatest Canadian Albums
• Chart magazine named it the twelfth best Canadian album of all-time
• Robert Christgau graded it an A-
• Pitchfork rated it an 8.4 out of 10
• Rolling Stone named it one of the best debut albums of all-time

I'm not the sort of person who usually buys an album because of a particular song – being more of an album type, but my entry to this album was definitely the catchy hit single, "Letter from an Occupant."

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Track Listing

1. "Mass Romantic" (Neko Case, A.C. Newman) – 4:11
2. "The Fake Headlines" (A.C. Newman) – 2:45
3. "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism" (A.C. Newman) – 3:56
4. "Mystery Hours" (A.C. Newman) – 3:11
5. "Jackie" (Dan Bejar and Neko Case) – 2:46
6. "Letter from an Occupant" (Neko Case) – 3:46
7. "To Wild Homes" (Dan Bejar, Neko Case, A.C. Newman) – 3:33
8. "The Body Says No" (A.C. Newman) - 3:56
9. "Execution Day" (Dan Bejar, A.C. Newman) – 2:59
10. "Centre for Holy Wars" (A.C. Newman) – 3:06
11. "The Mary Martin Show" (A.C. Newman) – 3:19
12. "Breakin' the Law" (Dan Bejar, A.C. Newman) – 3:27

Personnel

• Dan Bejar – vocals, many instruments (including korg synthesizer, pipe organ, wurlitzer)
• Carl Newman – vocals, many instruments (including korg synthesizer, pipe organ, wurlitzer)
• Neko Case – vocals
• Kurt Dahle – drums, vocals
• John Collins – bass, producer, engineer
• Fisher Rose – drums
• Blaine Thurier – keyboards
• Davidian Chorley – saxophone
• David Carswell – producer
• Blaine Thurier – keyboards