Who says Canadians don't like invasions? They clearly have their own version of Operation Shock and Awe with the current wave of tuneful indie rock hailing from Toronto and Vancouver in the form of Broken Social Scene, Destroyer, Do Say Make Think, and the Metrics. Now if they could only storm the US airwaves and wrest control from the tuneless flatlining Nickelback types that flood the market, I would happily assimilate and say "a-boot" a lot more often. (Ironically, Nickelback is from Calgary. Guess the suckage vortex of crappy music can pretty much open up anywhere.)
In the curl of the Canadian pipeline are Vancouver's New Pornographers, a band that broke a bit sooner than their Toronto brethren. Part of the Pornographer's charm is the unusual grafting of Carl Newman's witty, idiosyncratic songwriting onto the booming throat of Virginian alt-country chanteuse Neko Case, who was previously more attuned to reverby-Patsy Cline odes. I've heard that the band can be a bit unsteady live, Case unsure of herself until they find a groove, and then the bottom falls out of the floor. I read somewhere that Case's voice is a cross between Judy Garland and Patsy Kline, and I tend to agree.
A few songs the CD really showcase what the Pornographers are capable of when their sometimes wildly-careening energies meld. One of these tunes is the sublime "The Laws Have Changed," a song so relentlessly up with its hard-driving guitars and Beach Boys harmonizing that it should be required listening for any aspiring power-pop band. Newman, a mediocre singer, quietly and flatly sings his idiosyncratic lyrics, but Case's booming back-up vocals are sparkling and effervescent, even though the lyrics are willfully obscure:
Introducing for the first time, Pharaoh on the microphone. Sing all hail, what'll be revealed today when we peer into the great unknown, from the line to the throne? Awakened to cheers after years on the faultline, we are shocked to be here in the face of the meantime.
Pharaoh, all your methods have taught me is to separate my blood from bone. It will all fail, feeling what I feel today, when we peer into the great unknown, from the line to the throne.
I'm not even gonna pretend that I know what the hell they're talking about, but the song's energy reminds me of the excellent "Letter from an Occupant" from the band's breakout album, Mass Romantic, an absolute perfect tune for summertime trips to the shore.
A song that is less successful is "It's Only Divine Right," which only features Newman on lead vocals and takes a straightforward approach to pseudo-poppy surf. When the Pornographers channel all of their talents into one genre, the end result seems a bit lackluster. At their best, the New Pornographers are a gratifying mess, a big sloppy dog of a band that is winningly infectious in its boundless enthusiasm. A group to watch for sure. |