Rating: NNN
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Following up the surprise success of last year’s more introspective Slow Wonder disc, Carl “A.C.” Newman leads his power pop crusaders through what sounds like his version of the Who’s Tommy. The Pornos have always had a flair for the theatrical, but in Twin Cinema their songs rise to new heights of opera-style grandiosity. When it works, it’s awesome, as on the anthemic Bleeding Heart Show, which explodes into a perfect act-one closer with the whole band chanting “hey la” in harmony, or Sing Me Spanish Techno, which turns the relentless pulse of bad dance music into a stoopid-catchy singalong. Still, the constant showstoppers grow a tad tiresome, and the disc feels bloated by too many sound-alike numbers. And as usual, there’s not nearly enough Neko.
