Music Is My Weapon
Caesar had his legions, Napoleon had his rifles, we have our music.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The New Pornographers: Challengers
Pay no attention to the reviews that imply the New Pornographers have "grown up" or "matured" or "drifted away" from the perfect-pop promise of their first three records. For if you throw darts at the songs on Challengers, an ambitious soundscape that had members of the all-star Canadian band recording their parts all over North America, you'll hit one flawless song after another.It runs head-on into the title track, "Challengers." It's not only one of my favorite tracks on the album, but probably one of my favorites of 2007. Neko Case takes over the vocals here, and she once again nails it. Each line, each note is sung perfectly with Carl harmonizing gently in the background. Everything about the song is beautiful, from Neko's declaration that "We are the challengers of the unknown!" to simple "Nah nah nahs" on the bridge. The song succeeds in being moving and poignant without the help of a chorus or any sort of climax. In my opinion, the song is just like one big climax, it starts off strong and never falters. Without a doubt, it is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The New Pornographers are two bands in one. On the one hand, there is the studio version of the band that includes non-touring members like the great Neko Case and Dan Bejar. Then there is the touring version of the band, that takes these amazing songs and performs them live. Both versions are centered around Carl Newman. He helps assure that the Pornographers are a great live band, even without its distinguished non-touring members, but with all members involved, this is one of the truly great studio bands in the world. CHALLENGERS is their fourth album. I honestly can't describe it as their best or their worst album. All four of their albums seem to me to be absolutely masterpieces and I was astonished to discover just how great this album has turned out to be. It isn't quite like earlier albums. For one thing, almost all the songs on CHALLENGERS are slower and statelier than almost any of the songs on previous albums. The first three cuts on the disc - "My Rights Versus Yours," "All the Old Showstoppers," and the title track represent the slowest beginning of any of their albums, but by no means are any of them weak songs. "All the Old Showstoppers" starts off almost delicately, but it gradually builds into a march as one new musical wrinkle after another is introduced to the mix. More than any other band, I would love to see these guys working on a recording. They are just dripping with talent and it would be wonderful to see who is responsible for introducing each new element. An individual song might be written initially by Newman or Bejar, but by the end of the recording process, it has been transformed into something that is obviously a group effort.