This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If we didn’t know for a fact that Carl Newman actually exists — the nasal-voiced Vancouver singer-guitarist is the nominal leader of power-pop supergroup New Pornographers — you would swear these 11 shimmering jewels of idiosyncratic, wryly intelligent pop had to be a secret solo album by The Kinks’ Ray Davies.
