Pitchfork: New Pornographers' Carl Newman to Release Solo LP

New Pornographers' Carl Newman to Release Solo LP
A.C. Slater readying team of fictitious Bayside lawyers

Carl Newman, the primary songwriter of Canada's incalculably poppy super group The New Pornographers, has many, many songs to play and sing for you. Unfortunately, as you might imagine, getting all seven smut peddlers together at the same time can be a daunting task, what with Dan Bejar recording and releasing a new record and touring as Destroyer, guitarist Todd Fancey putting out his own album, and Neko Case planning a fall release and embarking on her own tour. So, Newman did what any self-respecting Canadian would do-- he got a grant from the government, made up a new bandname, and recorded a new album. Take that, Bejar!

The newly christened A.C. Newman will release his first album, The Slow Wonder, on June 8th via Matador Records. The boys and girls at Matador seem quite taken with the record, and it sounds like you can count on a distinct New Pornographers vibe, based on the recent album announcement on the label's website: "This is 34 minutes of the best power-pop you have ever heard, an incredible breath of fresh air in a hostile era for genuine hand-crafted music." Hostile era? I'll believe that when anti-"hand-crafted" protesters are lobbing firebombs at Matador HQ. Regardless, if this record sounds anything like Electric Version, we're all in there. Though the tracklist for The Slow Wonder is not yet finalized, Matador made with some song titles: "Most of Us Prize Fighters", "The Town Halo", "The Battle for Straight Time", "35 in the Shade", and "Drink to Me Babe Then". An MP3 is also available for download at the Matador site.

Newman is planning on supporting the album with a tour, but no word yet on who he'll tote along as his backing band, or where they'll play. However, you can count on Pitchfork for at least one thing (in addition to skillful alliteration, clever wordplay, and chronic grouchiness), and that's overkill. Which is to say, we'll let you know when we know. Plus a couple times more.