The New Pornographers: "Just Call Us The West Coast Broken Social Scene"

The New Pornographers have embarked on a North America-wide tour in support of their fifth studio release, Challengers.

The west coast supergroup will have the original lineup in tow, including Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar, so fans can rest easy. Group leader Carl Newman recently spoke with ChartAttack about being called "the Broken Social Scene of the west," life without Case and Bejar as regulars, and how Case fanatics are often complete jackasses.

"If people don't want to see us without Neko, they could always not go, I'm not holding a gun to their heads," says Newman. "I think the thing that must annoy those people is that they can never be sure when she's going to show up.

"There are those people that are totally like, 'Neko has to be in the band,' and then they come to see us and they're like, 'Is that Neko?' So, you're this huge Neko fan, but you don't know what she looks like? Or really, what she sounds like?"

Newman's niece, Kathryn Calder, generally fills the role of "is that Neko" when Case isn't present. The fluctuating lineup has created an interchangeable roster similar to that of another big Canadian indie band.

"The only other band that I can think that is similar to us is Broken Social Scene," says Newman. "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."

After adopting the constantly shifting lineup of their eastern brethren, critics began labelling the Pornos "the west coast Broken Social Scene." It's a title that Newman is perfectly fine with "as long as reciprocally they get called The New Pornographers of the east."

In fact, according to Newman, it's a title that BSS actually gave themselves.

"Last year, I was talking to Kevin Drew and he said in 2001 when they were trying to get a FACTOR grant and they had to write their little paragraph about who they are, they referred to themselves as 'The New Pornographers of the east.' It's an odd selling point. I'm surprised it worked."

Despite the back and forth comparisons, Newman isn't interested in any sort of one-upmanship.

"That infers that there's some slight rivalry between us, but there's none at all. Let's just call us the west coast Broken Social Scene. I accept it. I accept it proudly."

Here are The New Pornographers' Canadian tour dates:

Sept. 28 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom w/Lavender Diamond and Fancey
Oct. 11 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre w/Emma Pollock
Oct. 12-13 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Ballroom w/Emma Pollock
Oct. 21 Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix w/Emma Pollock and Benjy Feree
Oct. 22 Montreal, QC @ Le National w/Emma Pollock and Benjy Feree