First, there's that great album title: Mass Romantic. Then there's the fact that the band is a bona fide supergroup featuring some of Vancouver, BC's most talented indie rockers, including a few we've actually heard of and spent money on here in the Northwest. Finally, there's pop genius Carl Newman serving as mastermind behind it all, a singularly talented songwriter and musician who, with his collective the New Pornographers, has given fans of harmony-laden, keyboard-driven pop something in addition to Sub Pop darlings the Shins to get excited about.

As a matter of fact, the Shins may owe a debt to Newman, in that it's most probably that band's astounding likeness to Newman's former band Zumpano that caught the ear of Sub Pop. (Back in the mid '90s, Zumpano was part of the local label's Canadian acquisitions--before the band fell apart following the release of its second album, Goin' Through Changes.)

While that's all history now, Newman hasn't strayed far from his love of sparkling arrangements and fresh-scrubbed '60s pop sensibilities. With the New Pornographers, it sounds as if the shyly charismatic frontman has finally come into his own by compiling a group of confident musicians whose talents augment rather than limit one another. (Zumpano featured an unspoken yet perceptibly restrictive dynamic between Newman and band namesake Jason Zumpano.) The voices of Dan Bejar (Destroyer) and the fabulous Neko Case either harmonize delightfully with Newman's or take turns at the lead, ensuring that New Pornographers encompass a sound that is constantly transforming.

The influences are obvious--Brian Wilson, Phil Spector, and even the Kinks, whose frontman Ray Davies surprised the band members by jumping onstage during the final song of their showcase at this past spring's music-industry festival SXSW. But Bejar and Case's contributions, met by the well-rounded capabilities of Evaporators bassist John Collins and Limblifter's Kurt Dahle, build upon those influences and together make for a vibrant, multifaceted offering. Driving rock, soaring pop, and chiming camaraderie? Mass romantic, for sure.