The New Pornographers

Challengers is pretty damn fantastic, and may be my favorite. I got to see them a couple years back in Madison, and while they were blown off the stage by the opening act (Okkervil River, for those who are curious), the Pornographers were still pretty great. Unfortunately, Neko Case was not there with them, so it wasn't anywhere near as awesome as it could have been.

I've seen them with and without Case and Dan Bejar, both excellent shows. I think I liked them better without though, just because there was more energy to the show as a whole. They were opening for Belle & Sebastian and ripped through a set, playing nearly 20 songs. And there weren't any Challangers numbers to drag the set down. I don't dislike Challengers, it's just not my favorite and over time I've found that some of the songs drag.

And I think Electric Version is awesome! The production is kind of weird, but it's full of hooks and great songs. On some days it's my favorite.

Looking forward to their new one, although I'm a little bit worried. Challangers was good, but not as good as I would have liked and the latest AC Newman album was hit or miss for me. Hope he brings the ruckus.

I used to love The Electric Version but the title song appearing on ROCK BAND and subsequently kicking my ass far too many times made me resent and hate the song. They’re definitely an interesting group, nice dynamic and lots of energy but they’re sort of a ‘background music’ group for me. The sort of album I listen to whilst writing or gaming rather than really paying attention too. I should probably change that and actually sit down and properly listen to one of their albums.

On a slightly tangential note, how bizarre is it that so many prominent indie bands in the aughts were Canadians. It’s like Celine Dion inspired all of these great musicians to prove that Canada had more to offer than Rush and assorted warbling.

The new song didn't do it for me, but for whatever reason their albums always take awhile to click with me. When they click though, they click hard.

Challengers gets unfairly maligned, imo. It has more slow/departure songs than the previous three albums, but they work, and Mutiny I Promise You and All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth are as good as anything off Mass Romantic when it comes to power pop.

Oddly enough, those songs hurt Challengers for me a little. It sounds to me like the band was going in the direction of those big, weird ballads, but felt compelled to phone in a couple of uptempo rockers. I'm a big fan of theirs, so this isn't meant as a complete slam on those songs, but they just sound like pale imitations of earlier songs (specifically,"All the Things..." sounds like a rewrite of "It's Only Divine Right").

I've seen them a few times, a couple times with Neko, once with her and Bejar, and at least once without either. I was at the same Madison show that Chris saw, and he's totally right, but Okkervil River was on fire that night, so it doesn't reflect all that poorly on the New Pornographers.

The best time I saw them was the first time, on the Electric Version tour (with Case, but not Bejar). Ever since then, it's seemed like they're struggling to keep up with the ornate album arrangements, which hurts the intensity a tiny bit. You can even hear this on the live recordings they've officially released.

Gripes aside, though, one of my favorite bands out there.

Speak no ill of Mutiny!

No, I get what you're saying. The leap from Divine Right to All The Things isn't a big one, neither is the leap from The Body Says No (my fave NP song) to Mutiny. They never felt derivative to me though, simply them doing what they do well.

As for the big ballads, I thought they really worked on Challengers and gave the album some nice texture/variance. Showstoppers reminded me of Whiskeytown a little, something I can't say I would have associated with NP, and the slow-tempo Challengers, Go Places, and Failsafe work better for me than any of their other attempts at slower songs.

I haven't ever seen them live, but I can't imagine their sound, especially the big, layered rockers, really translates well in person. Who knows though, Wilco manages to pull off fairly dense stuff live (fantastic show this weekend). I'm hoping to catch NP's this summer if they come to within a few hours of me, so I guess I'll find out.

I really dig the new song. I like the loud/quite/loud dynamics going on here. Something new from them. Reminds me of some songs from Twin Cinema (the big Jesus Christ Superstaresque power chords/choruses).

Twin Cinema might have the best first four songs on an album, culminating with The Bleeding Heart Show.

As in the UK, we have a large pool of 'celebrities', many great bands included, who are unknown internationally. Quebec even has its own large pool of superstar crooners of whom only Celine Dion has crossed over, first in Anglo Canada and then globally. I used to buy records from Carl Newman and saw his old band, the guitar army Superconductor, many times in the 90's, most notably at a Halloween show opening for Cop Shoot Cop and The Jesus Lizard in '93. The internet principally is what's allowed more artists to cross the border in the last decade, but we've always had the talent.

I'd wouldn't argue with someone making that statement. The coolest part is, none of those four songs are the best one on the album, Sing Me Spanish Techno (at least to me).

Just to be clear, I didn't mean "big, weird ballads" in a negative way. "Unguided," "Adventures in Solitude," "Go Places," and "Challengers" are my favorite songs on the album (well, and "Myriad Harbor," but that's more uptempo).

Also, "The Body Says No" is way up there for me, too, and, while Twin Cinema doesn't hit a bum note until "Star Bodies (which redeems itself with a great chorus), "The Bleeding Heart Show" is the standout for me - way up there on my list of songs of the 00s. Although "The Jessica Numbers" gets stuck in my head the most, probably due to the off-kilter rhythm, and "Use It" is hard to deny...

On first listen, really nice, and I think I at least like it better than Challengers. We'll see how it holds up to repeat listening (here at work it's hard to listen much past the surface).

I've really only had a chance to listen to the first half, but I'm loving what I've heard. Crash Years has me totally earwormed.

I dig it, but it's still not anything close to what I now refer to as the holy trilogy (their first three). Some real nice production, excellent hooks and typical clever lyrics. But some of the songwriting just doesn't grab me, especially in the second half.

Oddly, I wish that the fourth and fifth album had been combined. I crave the hooks of Together with some of the songwriting from Challengers.

It's good. It's a good record. But there's no "Bleeding Heart Show," or "The Laws Have Changed." Certainly no "Letter From An Occupant." I know those are lofty expectations, but this band used to have a half dozen of songs like that per album.

Maybe they need to make an album with a two word title again.

It's hard to place this album. It seems like it sort of fulfills the function of Electric Version in that it takes a lot of the energy and emotional approach of the albums surrounding it and tones it down for the sake of solid professionalism and maximum hooks.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since Electric Version is kind of a blast, despite how tight and controlled it seems coming after the wild and borderline chaotic Mass Romantic. On the other hand, I'd really started to appreciate the epic, more "serious," melancholy side of the band that started coming out on Twin Cinema ("The Bleeding Heart Show," "The Bones of an Idol," "Stacked Crooked") and Challengers ("Unguided," the title track, "Go Places," "Adventures in Solitude"). "Valkyrie in the Roller Disco" is really the only one here that strikes that tone, and it's not one of the standouts for me (yet).

Just noticed that Neko's listed as the songwriter for "My Shepherd." I knew something sounded different and un-Newman-y about those lyrics. Still, I'm always amazed at how well the band collectively transforms material from two (now three) disparate songwriters into a cohesive sound. I used to think this was Newman's doing, but, based on how different his solo albums sound, it's clearly a group effort.

I know this thread is a little old but just saw these guys at a concert last night and it was awesome! They played for a little over 2 hours also which is nice, I wasn't expecting that at all. And damn, Neko Case's voice is just spectacular live and she knocked my favorite song outta the park (Letter From An Occupant).

Was everyone there? When I saw them last it was just Newman and Case. I believe Bejar was on tour with Destroyer at the time.

Ha, thanks for bumping this since I was too lazy to search for it myself this week. I saw them in NYC on Saturday for the first time, about 20 feet from the stage. Loved it. They definitely didn't play as long as your show, though, I'd say about an hour forty. They really spread the setlist around, too.

Also, to the guy standing behind me: I know you would totally have sex with Neko right now if she wanted to. I heard you the first five times. She still doesn't want to.

EDIT: Everyone was there, Andrew.

Jesus Christ, really?

You should have heard him trying to sing along to the end of Testament To A Youth In Verse. "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.. (couple of extraneous no's).."

Didn't figure them for having a bro contingent, but apparently they do.

It doesn't surprise me that much. Bro's show up at the strangest shows.

My band played a show with a Talking Heads tribute band around Christmas, and the majority of their crowd was bros. And a bunch of them knew every word, especially weird considering they were pretty light on the hits and heavy on the early material.

Beautiful woman, amazing voice, and a filthy mouth. My heart belongs to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8-1E...layer_embedded

And whoever threw that should be pulverized.

Ah, the youtube comments calling her a "cunt" and a "bitch" etc, etc. Jesus Christ, internet.

Bejar doesn't turn about the entire time. That's focus.