The New Pornographers are described as a Canadian superband because all the members were assembled by A.C. Newman from various other bands and solo projects. To be honest, I know nothing of the works of Newman and the other band members outside of The New Pornographers, with the exception of Neko Case who I’ve been a fan of for some time (I even saw her in concert!). Perhaps I should do a future Music Discovery to listen to their music in other bands. When they come together they create a somewhat folky power pop music with jangly sounds and powerful wall of instrumentation. Reading reviews to prepare for this Music Discovery, I saw them compared with Roxy Music and Electric Light Orchestra (I don’t know these bands well, but what I do know doesn’t seem too similar to The New Pornographers). The sound of the music reminds me of something I can’t quite place while also being very original. Lyrically, the songs are very dense in wordcraft and can be open to many interpretations.
Album: Mass Romantic
Release date: November 21, 2000
Favorite tracks: “Mass Romantic,” “Letter from an Occupant,” and “To Wild Homes,”
Lyrics of Note:
Hope grows greener than grass stains – from “Centre for Holy Wars”
Thoughts: I had not previously listened to this album and it wast faster and more chaotic than I’m accustomed to from The New Pornographers. An exciting start to their career.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Electric Version
Release date: May 6, 2003
Favorite tracks: “Chump Change,” “July Jones,” and “Miss Teen Wordpower”
Lyrics of Note:
Our words move aimlessly through
Empty city squares
Collecting into mobs and
Angry like their prayers
They breathe the air we
Fought to leave behind
This kind of blank adventure
Happens all the time
Because nobody knows the wreck of the soul
The way you do – from “Miss Teen Wordpower”
Thoughts: The band’s vocal harmonies and instrumentation are tightening. Lyrically, many of the songs seem to be criticism of the music business and of the United States’ post-September 11th war policies. Or maybe both at the same time?
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Twin Cinema
Release date: August 23, 2005
Favorite tracks: “The Bleeding Heart Show.,” “Jackie, Dressed in Cobras,” and “Sing Me Spanish Techno,”
Lyrics of Note:
Thoughts: These are very tuneful songs with tight harmonies. I love the ‘hey-la’ fadeout on “The Bleeding Heart Show” and the vocal effects/edits on “Falling Through Your Clothes” sound very cool. The band is branching out into more musically adventurous territory than the previous two albums.
Rating: ****
Album: Challengers
Release date: August 21, 2007
Favorite tracks: “My Rights Versus Yours,” “Challengers,” “Myriad Harbor,” “Unguided,” “Go Places,” and “Mutiny, I Promise You”
Lyrics of Note:
The new empire in rags
The truth in one free afternoon – from “My Rights Versus Yours”
In every story, every secret told
You are not the first to wake up
To learn your lines before you have the part
You woke up early and you woke up torn
You’re the temporary border
The heat wave humming in the house of cardsYou spun chapter into rapture there
Yeah, you were as brave as traffic
You chased the spotlight into her arms
And you forgot that you could fight
But not that you were still the person sleeping
The heat wave humming in the house of cardsA play for the girl, a cross for a hook, sinking into the greasy wonder
Under the sea, walking the floor, over the waves that we lived underSomething’s unguided in the sky tonight
There is something unguided in the sky – from “Unguided”
Thoughts: This is the album I’m most familiar with. It features big bold sounds and provocative lyrics. “Challengers” is the most amazingly constructed song.
Rating: ****
Album: Together
Release date: May 4, 2010
Favorite tracks: “The Crash Years, “My Shepherd,” and “Daughters of Sorrow”
Lyrics of Note:
The ruins were wild
The ruins were wild
Tonight will be an open mic – from “The Crash Years”Glasswork shards decorate this house
We’re tossing lost arts out windows
The splash and jangle of a secret science defined
You claim some golden age is upon us – from “My Shepherd”
Thoughts: After a decade together, The New Pornographers sound more like a unified band than a collection of individual talents (apropos of the title Together). Ironically, there are a lot of guest musicians on this album, including the horn section from The Dap Kings who had a new sound. Overall this album feels less energetic than its predecessors.
Rating: ***1/2
Album: Brill Bruisers
Release date: August 26, 2014
Favorite tracks: “Brill Bruisers,” “Born With a Sound,” “Dancehall Domine,” and “Spidyr”
Lyrics of Note:
They say we can’t make this stuff up,
But what else could we make? – from “Marching Orders”I had a sound in my head
But I couldn’t find the words
To get it out
Now I know love is the way
Get it out – from “Born With a Sound’
Thoughts: I didn’t like that title track at first, but it grew on me and now I love it. Hearing the song broken down on The Song Exploder helped change my mind. The album feels celebratory. Singles like “Brill Bruisers” and “Dancehall Domine” feel like they could’ve been on a previous album, but much of the rest of this album sounds like it was recorded in the 1980s with swirling New Wave sounds and electronic tones. I like that sound a lot.
Rating: ****
So there is my quick journey into the discography of The New Pornographers. What do you think of this band?
If I keep things together, next Wednesday I will publish my thoughts on the work of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós.
Panorama of the Mountains 