New Pornographers

i miss bejar! but this record is really good

I like this more than their past few; it's a little peppier/zippier. They were sounding more & more "over-the-hill" with every release, to the point I kept mistaking each new LP for their swan song.

Bejar’s absence certainly contributes to what feels like a lack of variety.

I'm not usually big on strings in rock songs; but they sound so "grafted on" here that it almost works for me in a "That's interesting..." kinda way.

I like this more than their past few; it's a little peppier/zippier. They were sounding more & more "over-the-hill" with every release, to the point I kept mistaking each new LP for their swan song.

― #YABASIC (morrisp), Monday, September 30, 2019 11:27 AM (forty-five minutes ago)

You should re-listen, I think? This one is a little less peppier/zippier than their last two, which firmly allayed any (rightful, after Together) concerns about them being over the hill.

I actually am revisiting "Whiteout Conditions" as we speak...

Strings or keyboards? They got two keyboardists now.

They sound like strings, maybe they’re synths, I dunno

Ambition fails them when the keys or synths smother good songs ("Dreamlike and On the Rush") and mediocre ones ("Leather on the Seat") in hysterical swells.

I like it a lot on first listen, though I wish there were more guitars.

I wish there were more Bejars.

there is an incredible dearth of old New Pornos live footage on YouTube. i found a clip from '03 and some stuff from '07 and that's kind of it.

weirdly of this small number of videos, two of these were from the one and only time I saw them in Seattle which was kind of cool to watch again.

I was 33 and saw Animal Collective the night before where my wife and I felt very, very old. This show was full of greying music nerds with at least a few pregnant women and we felt much more at home

I really really loved Whiteout Conditions—easily their best this decade; I listen to it as much as their first four classic albums.

Unfortunately I’m super lukewarm on the new album. Takes a lot of elements of the last album and smooths them out. It’s just missing that intangible oomph.

I'm of the opposite opinion: liked WC well enough, quite like this one except for the last couple tracks. Their best since Twin Cinema, but my suspicion of power pop means I miss the subtleties of their albums after 2005 (and don't think Bejar works at all).

suspicion of power pop?

Whiteout Conditions and Morse Code definitely feel cut from the same cloth—no Bejar, guitars pushed back and keyboards emphasized, and more of a constant duet between Cass and Wilson. That shift in sound felt freeing on WC; there was a lightness to it. This time around it feels a little more mannered. Idk.

More songs are rising up on subsequent listens but it still takes a few tracks to really warm up. My favorite NP albums feel stacked with perfection right up front.

Ages ago I emailed talk show host Rob Simone to ask what this song was and the answer made no sense until some more recent googling tuned it up. Will always be associated with Area 51 etc.

https://youtu.be/09Ix2inAWaI

saw these guys live last week and the songs from the new album generally sounded excellent, especially 'backseat driver.'

They rolled through town Tuesday and i didn’t make it out. Kicking myself ngl

Doing a small tour late this year w/Bejar doing Mass Romantic and Twin Cinema on back-to-back nights.

https://www.thenewpornographers.com/#tour

AC Newman is kind of annoying on the burd app

really wish that tour was coming my way, i would be at twin cinema night for sure

Sounds dumb but I wish they were playing a smaller NY venue than Webster hall

is Kathryn Calder not on this tour? i am seeing blurry photos that have a woman on keys at stage left and it doesn't look like her. anyone know?

So the new single.

Tried getting a discussion going over here: new New Pornographers

Upon first listen I like the one song that is available as a single.

I will always adore the first four albums, but tbh the album I play the most these days is Whiteout Conditions.

Same, mostly, although every time I reset I shore up my appreciation for at least one more of the other albums.

In order of how frequently I still play them (maybe slightly more objective than ranking by “favorite”? At least it spares me agonizing over placing Electric Version so low)

Whiteout Conditions
Mass Romantic
Challengers
Electric Version
Twin Cinema
In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
Brill Bruisers
Together

I would put Twin Cinema higher and bump Brill Bruisers a place but yeah.

Twin Cinema's my favorite. I underrated WC.

Brill and Together are a tier unto themselves. The only reason I rate BB higher is “war on the east coast”

"War on the East Coast" is my fave NP song.

Agree that the new single is solid.

that and Backstairs are my fav 2

Together is their weakest and is still pretty good. The last three albums have been consistent and sometimes great, but they still blend in together in my head (though I voted for Brill Bruisers in the ILX Teens poll). I'm going to re-listen today to sort them out.

i prefer the jap movie

I hadn't listened to In the Morse Code of Brake Lights for two years, it turns out it was pretty strong. I haven't missed Bejar on the last two albums because I found his songs on Brill Bruisers were the weak links. Sequencers really gave them a shot of energy that they seemed to be losing on Challengers and Together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rPYlH1626M

I like

Sounds good so far.

Official tomorrow?

lol why on earth is this thread marked NSFW

Certain picture of Neko maybe?

Ooh this is a very vibey record. Most of the albums post-Twin Cinema have had more buried hooks than the first three, and take repeated listens (or distracted listening) to really sink in. This one's doing that too but in a fresh way.

lol why on earth is this thread marked NSFW

― obsidian crocogolem (sleeve), Thursday, March 30, 2023 11:16 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

naughty artist name

The name Old Pornographers was taken.

The Old Weird Cartographers.

Professor Clank and the Old Weird Cartographer Society

lol

“Pontus Pilate” could almost be a Radiohead tune circa amnesiac