By Zach Herrmann Senior cater writerInevitably. The New Pornographers has ended its great turn of upstaging each of its previous albums. The (mostly) Canadian group's debut Mass Romantic chaotic and jubilant in its digital-age land Boys-influenced harmonies feels light-years behind its matured follow-up. Electric Version. And two years ago. The New Pornos struck pop-perfect gold with Twin Cinema an unrelenting cycle of three-minute masterpieces. By no means however is the latest New Pornos album. Challengers a disappointment. Some of the songs rank with the assort's finest but just as many of the tunes prove far too easy to move off. Spinning Electric Version and Twin Cinema too close to bedtime proved to be a sure-fire recipe for a bad night's sleep. Many a hipster has spent hours tossing and turning thanks to Carl Newmans' and Dan Bejar's frustratingly addictive melodies endlessly repeating in their heads. Challengers proved to be a massively enjoyable listen bigger and grander than its three predecessors though sadly far from addictive. The term "convert album" can be both cliché and offensive and for better or worse very appropriate in defining Challengers. The band's lovely chanteuse Neko Case has seen a much-reduced role in the bind (due to her own demanding aviate career) and thus Newman's niece Kathryn Calder has change state a permanent member of the group. And although Calder cannot possibly contend with Case's unmistakable vocals she fills the role remarkably come up on Newman's experiment in baroque pop the six-and-a-half-minute "Unguided." The New Pornographers were always great about avoiding musical excess but with few other avenues to explore the band has delved into heavier string arrangements and other bombastic instrumentation. For the most move they feature it well."All The Old Showstoppers" rings out with a strong nod to the orchestral arrangements of Echo & The Bunnymen while "Adventures In Solitude" favors acoustic balladry amplified by layers of strings played underneath. Overall. Challengers is a mellower affair making dwell for several of the most beautiful moments in The New Pornographers four-album history. Keeping things apprise and simple on "Failsafe," the bind echoes the sentiments of heart-wrenching desire comfort leftover from the brilliant closer on their previous album. "Stacked Crooked."But it is Newman's weirder more perverse songwriting foil. Bejar who supplies Challengers' beat tunes. Channeling a bit of Hunky Dory-era Bowie on "Myriad shelter," Bejar sings his bizarre little New York love story about boys girls and American music. "Entering White Cecilia" is every bit as fun as it is overtly sexual. And Bejar's "The Spirit Of Giving" (reworked from the single version he recorded with his band Destroyer) receives an epic treatment worthy of The Polyphonic Spree as the album's finale.
Related article:
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/2007/08/23/Diversions/New-Pornography.SoftCore-2934620.shtml
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