New Pornographers

Conceived as a one-off studio project, Vancouver indie group the New Pornographers became a full-on band when their debut turned out better than any-one could have imagined. Singer/songwriters Carl Newman (of Zumpano) and Dan Bejar (a.k.a. Destroyer) devised a smart, winningly eccentric variation on Cheap Trick and Utopia's exuberant power pop, crammed every available aural space with blockbuster hooks, and produced it with full-throttle AM-radio gusto -- hand claps! organs! four-part harmonies! The secret ingredient, alt-country torch singer Neko Case, tears into unstoppable rockers like "Letter From an Occupant" with relish. A delight.

Case is less of a presence on Electric Version (she only sings lead on two songs, one of them the stunningly catchy crypto-political anthem "The Laws Have Changed"), and Bejar pops in to contribute three peculiar little songs -- one of which quotes Wittgenstein -- then disappears again. (He didn't tour with the band, either.) But Newman, now clearly in charge, is on overdrive, pinning the tunefulness meter in the red, pushing the group's energy over the top, and layering the album's production like baklava -- sweet, nutty hooks never stop emerging from its depths. (DOUGLAS WOLK)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide