AC Newman Get's Guilty

A.C. Newman has been in more indie rock bands than most record stores carry. From Superconductor to Zumpano and of course his most famous band to date, The New Pornographers, Newman has been writing jangly indie rock tune after jangly indie rock tune for well over fifteen years. As someone who's been in the game for so long, it should as come as no surprise that Newman has tons of ideas and material he's never used for any of his other projects. That's where his solo project comes in, as a sort of clearing house for his individual ideas and songs. He recorded his first solo album, The Slow Wonder way back in 2004 and then resumed his work with The New Pornographers until now. A.C. Newman has finally released his followup, Get Guilty.
Five years in the making, Get Guilty is a swell followup to A.C. Newman's debut and showcases, the guys ability to create pop on demand that's both jangly, artistic and powerful. After fifteen years in the biz, that's not to shocking as he probably has dreams about hit songs in his sleep. To say the guy is a consistent songwriter would be an understatement and all you have to do is listen to Get Guilty once to see this. A vast majority of his songs are shimmery, jumpy, incredibly contagious, and structured for maximum pop impact. While vast majority of Get Guilty sounds a bit like a long lost New Pornographers album if it were found by the Shins, the album still manages to stand on it's own with songs that could pretty much all be singles. Despite the hit potential of this record, one of the coolest things about Get Guilty is that it seems relaxed, easy and not quite as formal as The New Pornographers. It's as if A.C. Newman let his proverbial hair down and let the songs just pour out of him while he was recording them. It's an effortless record that just goes to show how good Newman is at coming up with pop songs that stick in your head.
Whether they're huge hook filled songs like, "Get Guilty," or light, worldly, and expansive songs like, "The Heartbreak Rides," Get Guilty will charm the socks off of you with it's undemanding songs. This is a strong record that is filled with shiny pop songs that contain giant hooks that could reel in a whale shark. Newman might be a part of The New Pornographers, but he's proven himself to be a solid solo artist with solid songs that he can fall back upon when the time is right. Until his other band gets around to recording their next album, A.C. Newman's Get Guilty will happily fill the void left by them and do so in fine pop fashion.