Brill Bruisers (studio album) by The New Pornographers

From SleepDealer 06/20/2018 18:17

Just came back to this. It's a lot better than I remember. I'm revising my score upwards!

This was one of my favorite albums of 2014. Nearly every track is remarkably crafted and full of energy. The only criticism that I might have of the album and the band as well is that they probably have one of the the least dangerous sounds, nearly always free of neurosis, and sometimes we look for a little agony and dysfunction in our music, at least in America. That's why we made the blues, I guess. Maybe it's why the NP album "Challengers," which is unusually melancholy for them, has such staying power for me. The NPs have kind of a white-collar NPR flavor, but what they do they do beautifully, so I'm not sure if this is even a criticism. Their songs are ridiculously catchy. I've gotten a lot of pleasure from their music over the years, and this album was in no way a disappointment.

Very exciting record here! The first song is the best although there are plenty of other great ones here.

From paladisiac 12/30/2014 22:37

The New Pornographers have largely recaptured the magic of their first 3 albums, pumping multiple hooks into the majority of these abnormal pop/rock tracks. The poppiest tracks still mostly emanate from AC, the loveliest from Neko and the strangest from Bejar (harmonica solo!), but the tracks are tighter than they have been since Twin Cinema. If one article i read is true, this is in no small thanks to Kathryn Calder. Thank you, Kathryn. And thank you New Pornographers for once again bringing me an album more complex than simple pop but carrying all of the smiles. (And i still heavily heart Neko.)

From pearljammer13 11/01/2014 21:05

Taking me a little longer to get into this one, but still has several standouts. The title track is pretty difficult not to like.

From Freddie55 08/28/2014 21:24

Exciting album by a brilliant group of artists. It helps to see them live to truly appreciate the whole package.