|
|
| |
|
|
TWIN CINEMAS
BY FRANKLIN SOULTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cribbing from a potpourri of pop influences that might include everything from Abba B-sides to Zulu choral music (their press release does peg the latter as an "interest"), these celebrated Vancouver geek-hipster bodhisattvas give every High-Fidelity–ite hope that all this useless beauty might amount to something, anything. Of course, what with their unfathomable lyrics — in the same press release, resident mastermind A.C. Newman says that "Sing Me Spanish Techno" was partly inspired by Joseph Campbell’s mythos "bullshit" — it’s just as likely that the spiraling influences could whirl down the kitchen sink, as happened on the brilliantly manic Electric Versions. Fortunately, as Newman also notes, their third album is "more sweeping and sprawling," with Hollies harmonies tenderizing grungy guitars and catchy choruses morphing into dazzling codas from another, greener world. Although Newman, with his affected British accent, has come to dominate the group, nudging co-songwriter Dan Bejar down to three tunes, resident thrush Neko Case is abetted this time by two more crystalline-voiced females, who turn the whimsy into ecstasy with their background vocals and occasional leads.
|
