Yesterday the New Pornographers helped us celebrate independence, today we return the favor and independently help celebrate the New Pornographers. The free Fourth Of July River To River show was a rain-battling blast; Neko was in tow, though no go on Destroyer (bummer). The last two times we’ve seen ‘em (Lolla ’06 and Coachella ’07) were great, but yesterday’s gig had something more; maybe it’s ’cause we’ve spent so much time with Challengers recently that simply opening with “All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth” was enough to please, maybe having Case along gave the Pornos some added swagger. If we were to quantify our enjoyment in amount of pictures taken, then this was some fucking show. We’ll give you the pic spread in a sec, but first, we prematurely evaluate…
Carl Newman writes Challengers‘ press-ready song notes, but it’s an all-for-one communalism creating the New Pornographer’s patented sound. The “Canadian supergroup” tag’s been bandied about from day one. Where each contributor came from doesn’t matter — it’s how they fuse together as a well-oiled, immaculate pop machine. Buttressed by very compatible neighbors, each player reaches for his or her best (well, minus Bejar, who always sounds great in this setup, but remains more excellent when given a mile to roam in his solo work).
OK, two quick pics, then back to the record…
The Pornographers’ patent includes kinetic group blasts, Twin Cinema, Electric Version, and Mass Romantic‘s biggest, catchiest jams. A stately departure, Challengers is the band’s slowest album, roaming into a thoughtful, more mature sound. (If you get lonely, though, there are throwbacks to speedier times: Play “All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth” and the excellent “Mutiny, I Promise You” on repeat.)
Equally important to Challengers‘ identity is the shift in production. It’s the first album recorded “largely” outside of the group’s usual Vancouver studio, and they also grabbed a string section, harp, flute, etc. It’s the most varied, natural production to date: Fewer vocal effects (less distant/more intimate), and a generally live/analog instrumental sound. In this setting, the two distinct songwriters sound even more distinct. It’s great, abundantly telling to hear Bejar’s finale — “The Spirit Of Giving”‘s church leading, innuendo-laced, “I was sick of America and her screaming decay” handclapping sing-a-long — after Newman’s spacious, halting banjo-harp-piano-strings-mandolin-and-niece-toting finale, “Adventures In Solitude”. Revisiting the past work, there’s sameness in the song-by-song mix, regardless of the writer, reducing the staying power of the pop. A couple years after its release, safe to say Twin Cinema sports timeless songs (close your eyes and point), but Challengers holds up better as a cohesive whole — and will likely sprout some timelessness of its own.
New production, new pace ? Challengers includes other firsts: first use of French horn (“My Rights Versus Yours”) and first track with Kathryn on full-on lead vocals (tremulous, handclapping “Failsafe”). Speaking of firsts: Some people weren’t so hot on “My Rights” when it first started streaming, but on top of its airy gorgeousness, in the song notes, Newman writes it’s “a stream of consciousness story-of-my-life type of song.” If you couldn’t get behind it before, maybe knowing its a life story will bring out a satisfying heart thump in the already spare, emotional lyrics (“You left your sorrow dangling / It hands in the air like a school cheer”). Our outlook on the track certainly shifted; it killed at Battery Park.
We’ve mentioned the Brooklyn recording studio. Well, this is also the NP’s New York album. Newman’s a Brooklynite now, feels okay talking about the West Village in flames in “Challengers,” and even Bejar gets in on the action with the best song on the album, “Myriad Harbour” (see MP3 below) and its strutting, sexy P.S.1 and Bleeker Avenue namedrops. He’s peppered songs with New York in the past — see “Jackie, Dressed In Cobras,” etc. — but this is the clearest and most addictive: “I said to Carl, ‘Look up for once, see just how the sun sets in the sky.’ / I said to John, ‘Do you think the girls here ever wonder how they got so pretty?’ Ah, well I do!” Oh, Dan! Newman’s biggest New York song, “Unguided,” is his longest composition to date. He notes, “It is all about August 2005, everything up in the air, it was very hot, and I was camping out in New York for a week.” He’s a temporary boarder dealing with a “heave wave humming in the house of cards”; the pulsing, incremental build (“some-thing un-guid-ed in the sky to-night”) is a musical coda bound for Broadway (or at least for slow dances everywhere). Keep thinking big, Carl.
All this and we haven’t discussed the breezy Bejar come-on “Entering White Cecilia” or Neko on the lovely “Go Places” (speaking of which, check out the atmosphere she adds to “Challengers”). Is there a dud? Not really. The mustachioed fella on the front cover swears the entire thing’s a grower, not a shower. We agree, but for different reasons.
P.S. Has anyone pre-ordered the “Executive Edition”? These dozen songs are rich enough; curious to know how others are dealing with all those “B-sides, demos and alternate versions,” live performances, videos, etc.
So, armed with that love for the new, the healthy mix of Challengers and past triumphs made the Pornos’ free Battery Park show a celebration in more ways than one. “All The Old Showstoppers” was a showstopper in itself, the title track a smooth way to soak in the river air, sounding perfectly at home next to classics like “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” “The Bleeding Heart Show,” “Use It,” “Jackie’s Dressed In Cobras,” “The Jessica Numbers,” “Twin Cinema,” “From Blown Speakers,” “The Laws Have Changed,” and “Mass Romantic.”
So, to get a taste of what Challengers offers, here’s two of the record’s finest moments…
And now, lots of pictures of Carl, Neko, Kathryn, and the rest of the Pornos, new and old — followed by some pics of opening act Midlake (who also were excellent — but the 5th of July is for the New Pornographers).
MIDLAKE
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Pretty good show…you didn’t mention that Bleeding Heart Show was probably the highlight of the whole set.
how was midlake?
I love Neko to death, I do, but she is not aging well. Luckily, her voice is still fucking awesome.
I loves me some Neko. So glad the album passes muster.
DwD
I’ve been trying to get into ‘Challengers’ but the album just doesn’t seem as strong as ‘Twin Cinema’. I’ll keep at it, though, because New Pornographers are great and it’ll probably grow on me.
I love me some Destroyer, but I think Daniel Bejar is at his absolute best with the Pornos. His avant-garde-isms play so well somehow within Newman’s hook-driven framework. Carl is like the Big Boi to Daniel’s 3000. And “Myriad Harbor” is one of their best collaborations yet, IMO.
Thanks for the pics.
After many listens, I’ve realized it’s their best album. Especially lyrically. I don’t even miss the speedier, pop-ier songs.
Mmmm, I’m gonna read this article after I’ve gotten the CD, I want to experience it with fresh ears.
Hey, I’ve been stickin’ with The New Porns since I listened to Mass Romantic at a Chapters listening booth back in 2000, so I’m not about to stop now.
In response to Jess: Neko’s got domestic hotness. And besides, it was sticky and humid out… and… and…
(thinks a moment)
…so there.
(?)
DwD
Can we please just talk about how much the guy on the cover of “Challengers” looks like Spencer Krug?
All of Bejar’s songs are amateurish unlistenable garbage. I guess they have to get filler from somewhere. But Carl Newman’s a goddamn genius, so I guess I’ll buy it.
Great show. As mentioned before, The Bleeding Heart Show was the highlight. The fact that it was raining only made it better.
As someone who actually preordered the executive edition, I can say that there hasn’t been any B-sides or demos posted as of yet. Apparently there’s gonna be one posted on the 8th.
great show. bleeding heart show was top notch. this was my 2nd time seeing them live and my friend pointed out how patient the string section was when they weren’t needed (as the pictures above show). they just sat there politely enjoying the music. i never noticed that before. bravo.
the album is breathtaking… i will be putting my order in for the executive edition as soon as payday comes round… also really glad to hear their live show is holding up as well as ever, as ‘m headed down to pitchfork and keeping my finders crossed for neko and dan (anybody heard rumors on that)?
Left very very dry — as pj once said — by this show…
the exec edition was totally worth it. i don’t think i like challengers more than electric vers/mass romantic, but i definitely dig it more than twin cinema. my love for them will never stop being so embarrassingly huge.
When I saw them about a year and a half ago, their drummer was fucking hilarious. Can’t wait to hear this in full.
It’s good to see Neko back in the fold again. Last time I saw them was at Bumbershoot and she wasn’t there. I’m glad that my first NP show even had Bejar and Destroyer opening for them as well.
I already have a ticket to one of the evenings on their two night stand in Seattle this fall.
Dan Bejar is the greatest. His stuff is the only New Pornographers stuff I can really get into, no matter how hard I try.
If he is amatuerish I couldn’t care, but he ain’t unlistenable to these ears.
Where is the innuendo in that “Spirit of Giving” lyric? Not being a dick; just genuinely curious if I am missing something.
Once again I will ask: Where is the premature evaluation for the Stage Names? What an injustice.
Challengers is a pretty decent record though, I must say.
Well, there goes Neko’s looks….
i adore neko to death, but she needs to go on ‘what not to wear’.
Challengers is easily their best effort. Who knew a band that started off playing seemingly harmless pop would create an album so moving and beautiful?
If Neko wants to dress like fucking Billy Corgan to hang out with me, I won’t complain.
Oh, if I want to listen to songs about NYC, I’ll listen to NYC bands. Sing me hoser lyrics!
Challengers is the best New Pornos album to date, and I’ve been a fan since the beginning. For the first time, they sound like a truly cohesive and forward-thinking band, rather than an indie-pop “supergroup” of sorts. Neko Case is the strongest female vocalist anywhere, and thank goodness the brilliant Dan Bejar is given a chance to shine on this record! But above all, this album reminds us that “mature” and “boring” are not synonymous terms. One of the best of the year so far.
Myriad Harbor = Waterloo Sunset performed by the Pixies
I hate to comment on somebody’s appearance, but Neko does look like she’s added some LBs. As long as the voice is there, though, who cares. Seeing her as a solo act on the 19th in Pittsburgh. Really looking forward to it.
Come forward all those who are NOT: pathetic single losers, overweight, underweight, bald, hirsute, underdressed or overdressed, to cast the first stone at Neko.
None of you? I thought so.
That string section lends an unexpectedly classic feel to a sound I’d grown used to shelving under power-pop, esp. on slower songs like “Solitude” and the waltzing “Go Places.” Very cool.
RE: “Spirit of Giving,” I imagine some innuendo can be pulled out of any if not all such lines Bejar’s ever written.
Maybe: “It’s your turn to go down now, it’s your turn to go down now/It’s your turn to go down now, it’s your turn to go down now/In the spirit of giving in”
Enough with the beards, already.
Guys, don’t listen to them! Neko losing it? Bejar amateurish???? Huh????
Hey, Neko, I’m yours forever: don’t let my wife and kids give you the wrong idea. And some of my favorite NP songs are Dan’s songs. If you’ve seen the pix of him doing “Slow Descent” with a beer bottle in his hand, you can totally feel his contribution.
I’m totally amazed at the hype “Myriad Harbor” is getting. It is undoubtedly my least favorite song on Challengers, if not my least favorite song by the NPs EVER.