The New Pornographers Take On All Challengers

02/20/09 6:59pm

by David Missio (CHARTattack)

The sophisticated pop from these indie heroes is ever-changing, and they're quite happy about it

Carl Newman seems relaxed.

Canada's pop genius has been changing his perspective as of late, slowing melodies, stripping down songs and fully removing the subsonic roar of a pumped-up synth.

The Brooklyn-by-way-of-Vancouver native is once again at the helm of his indie rock music collective The New Pornographers, and still a manic conductor, a brilliant songwriter and a man in love. Under his calm demeanor is an apparent nervous energy; he just got married, his band's fourth LP (Challengers)has just been released, and he seems to only now be coming to terms with their constantly morphing sound and revolving lineup that also includes Blaine Thurier, Todd Fancey, John Collins, Kathryn Calder, Kurt Dahle and the wayward Neko Case and Dan Bejar.

There has long been a question as to what would happen to the band without stalwarts Bejar and, particularly, Case on the regular roster, an issue Newman would finally like to put to rest.

"What can I do if people think that?" Newman ponders.

"People can say anything they want about us, we're just trying to survive. When we play without Neko, we're not doing it to bug people, we're doing it because it's our job. When someone offers us a huge gig like Coachella or Lollapallooza, it just seems ridiculous to say, 'No, no, Neko can't do it, so...'"

Newman is quick to cite the Pornos' eastern counterparts, the sprawling multi-band side-project du jour Broken Social Scene as another act who keep going despite an ever-fluctuating lineup.

"The only other band that I can think that is similar to us is Broken Social Scene and, in the same way that we're often playing without Neko or Dan, Broken Social Scene are playing most of the time without Feist or Emily Haines or, god, who else is left? Jason Collett? I still think of him as being in the band even though he hasn't been in the band for, like, three years. It was actually them, Broken Social Scene, that made me think maybe we should just have an alternate lineup.

"It's really the only way we've been able to function as a band for the last two years. We want Dan and Neko to play with us as much as possible, just like tons of people do, but the only way we could exist as a band is to have this kind of slightly fluctuating lineup. If we didn't do it, we just couldn't exist. For us not to do it we'd all have to go out and get regular day jobs, which seems like kind of an absurd compromise."

...Like Brian Wilson Did
Newman can't help but contemplate what might come next, but for him, there are no expectations.

"When I had the idea to do this band in the beginning, I didn't have any delusions of doing something important or ambitious or really original. I just thought, 'We'll just do these songs and see how they come out,' and somehow that attitude seemed to work. Having that attitude gave us the most success we'd ever had... I try to remember that and not really worry if I'm pushing the boundaries or repeating myself."

While 2005's Twin Cinema was the first to feature a more mature, reflective-sounding band, Challengers is perhaps Newman's most organic record to date.

The Pornos experiment with newer, sparser sounds, proving they never again have to hide behind the wall of noise that ushered them in with their Mass Romantic album.

"We're definitely not afraid to be really quiet," Newman says. "There's some of the songs, when I was doing the demos for them they had a lot more instrumentation, but I kept thinking, 'This doesn't sound right.' It just sounded bland to me. Sometimes a song wouldn't sound right until we completely stripped it down like that song 'Adventures In Solitude.' It didn't sound right at the beginning until there was almost nothing there and then I thought, 'Yeah, that's how the song should be.'"

Newman has always been known for his unique method of crafting a pop song and, as he progresses, more accolades are constantly being thrown his way. He's been compared to such eccentric writers as Harry Nilsson and Wayne Coyne, but another artist remains closer to Newman's heart, even if he doesn't think they're quite at the same level.

"I'm not even remotely as good as Brian Wilson, just to clear that up," Newman says. "But, it's something to strive towards... he made pop music that unfolded in interesting ways. A lot of people don't know this. Animal Collective are considered a very strange band, but they sound like the Beach Boys and they sound like the Beach Boys because the Beach Boys were strange. The Beach Boys had a combination of the strange and the beautiful that I think I strive for more than anything else, even though I don't want to sound like them. But that quality that they have... like 'God Only Knows' is just the most strange and beautiful song and it's beautiful in not a very obvious way. I think that's the music that I love the most."

With the types of harmonies that the Beach Boys ended up utilizing, it's no surprise that the Pornos often sport multiple vocal lines and push different members to the front of the stage to take the mic. Still, Newman remains in control.

"I'm in a privileged position that if I really dislike something on a song... it probably won't end up on the record, I will fight it tooth and nail," Newman admits, before quickly denying that he's being a "frontman."

"People can call me that if they want, but sometimes I'm not the frontman, sometimes somebody else is. Canada should be used to this by now. Sloan has been around for what, 15 years?"

Be Your Own Guide
Challengers is unmistakably the next link in the evolution of the band, as Newman continues to push the limits of what they can do. "Unguided" is the Pornos' first official epic.

"I've always wanted to do that," Newman says. "I want to do longer songs, actually. I've always wanted to do a song that was the entire side of an album. I want to put out a two-song album... in a good way. Like side two of Abbey Road, even though that's a little more disjointed. It’s always been my dream to do a really good, kind of catchy, kind of accessible record, but one that's a long song that kind of unfolds."

Newman's lofty ambitions are at least secured in good taste.

"Built To Spill's Perfect From Now On, in terms of the song structure and the way that the songs unfold, is really something to aspire to,"Newman says. "Animal Collective had the same thing. When I listen to bands like that, I feel like I'm writing really straightforward simple pop songs."

Looking at Newman's output with the Pornos, his work is seldom as plain as he makes it out to be.

However, it remains undeniably distinctive and wholly his own. After his A Slow Wonder solo debut allowed him to strip things down, the next two Pornos albums followed suit.

"There's absolutely no difference these days [between solo work and the band]," Newman says. "I mean, I thought there was, but immediately after we finished making Electric Version I started working on the solo record because we had all these songs that I thought wouldn't work in The New Pornographers. And then, at the end of making Slow Wonder, my favourite songs on that record were the slower, more quiet ones. So when I went into Twin Cinema, I thought, 'Why can't The New Pornographers do slow, quiet songs?' I think doing that solo album just opened things up. It made us realize that we can be whatever we feel like being."

"Unguided" is Newman's ode to his current hometown of New York. It was the type of move that most people around him referred to as simply a "disappearance."

But Newman re-emerged in Brooklyn sometime later, more or less unscathed, with his now-wife - except for that scar from the knife fight.

"I got rid of the scar,"Newman says. "I got it in a knife fight. That's how I won the girl. You can fictionalize that knife fight a little bit. The real knife fight wasn't that interesting. Knife goes in, knife comes out."

Maybe Newman's just being careful with what he says these days. He knows all too well how quickly things are passed along in the digital age and how long they stay with you.

"You can't escape it," Newman says. "Once when we played New Jersey in 2002, I jokingly referred to Neko as my new wife, and I still see it. I said it once at a small club with about 200 people and it still shows up occasionally on the internet."

Age Of Content
Challengers itself showed up on the internet, slightly earlier than the Pornos would have liked it to. For all the good technology can do for the music industry, it's hard to see a silver lining to a full album leak well before the release date. Newman doesn't seem to mind, though.

"I don't worry about it that much," Newman admits. "The Shins last record? That leaked, really hard. That leaked everywhere like three months ahead of time. That didn't affect it at all. It had a massive first week. I think all albums leak to some degree. It's just the way things are. You can't fight it, it's just there."

Besides, the ginger-haired singer has bigger concerns: like making sure he doesn't have to get a regular job anytime soon. For a songwriter who seeks to model his career after the likes of The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices and Yo La Tengo, Newman undoubtedly sees himself as someone who will simply continue to create music, no matter what the ageists might say.

"I think sometimes when you're a musician you get older and you start thinking, 'I'm doing pretty well with this music, but do people expect me to quit soon? Is there an age when I should just pack it in?' Like Logan's Run, the light on my hand starts blinking and I have to get exterminated? So it's cool to see bands like Flaming Lips and Yo La Tengo, who are better now than they ever have been."

It seems like the more Newman accomplishes, the more he wants to accomplish. He's not done yet, but he's calm, relaxed and ready to just keep going.

"I've been trying to be real zen about music these days, if that's the right word" Newman says. "Just kind of a state of mind: do what you do and just let the cards fall as they may."

bonus sidebar
The Devil's Music

On June 1, 1986, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart referred to music as "the new pornography."

Swaggart also happens to be first cousins with Jerry Lee Lewis. Here are some comparative quotes that are both fun and informative.

Jimmy Swaggart: "If I do not return to the pulpit this weekend, millions of people will go to hell."

Jerry Lee Lewis: "If I'm going to hell, I'm going there playing the piano."

JS: "The media is ruled by Satan. But yet I wonder if many Christians fully understand that."

JLL: "You've got to walk and talk with God to go to heaven... I have the devil in me! If I didn't have, I‚'d be Christian!"

JS: "I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died."

JLL: "I'm no angel, but I'm a pretty nice guy."

At least they agree on one count. In 1991, Swaggart picked up a California prostitute. Lewis' feelings on women: "Pussy is pussy..."

This is the cover story from Chart Magazine's September 2007 issue. You can purchase the issue at the Chart Shop.