LA / LBC / OC
Long Beach’s Magic Lantern have finally gone and released a new sonic document after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Eagerly anticipated by those who have been biding their time waiting for the band to get on with their uber limited cassette only and CD-R releases (their Self-Titled CD-R was limited to 30), “High Beams”, the band’s latest opus [...]
News Bytes Twitter
It’s as if The New Pornographers have a kind of premonitory sixth sense for when their albums are most needed. Stale, overblown and yaaawn are three words that pretty well describe much of this summer’s new music so far, and Challengers, the latest from these reliable Canucks could not have come at a better time. Like many things Canadian, New Pornographers have always seemed practical to me, not in a predictable or hackneyed sense, but rather that they continually create well-crafted pop songs. In an era of ever expanding genres and sub-genres (if you can explain to me what emotronic or ghettotech or grindcore is, please do!) the NP’s standout as seasoned artists who in my mind deserve placement next to other luminaries such as Pixies, Weezer (the Blue album) and Wilco, for their unabashed pop/rock backbone.
Challengers, the followup to 2005’s Twin Cinema, is at the very least assurance that The New Pornographers are now more than ever the legitimizers of the term “powerpop.” Of course it’s much more than that, but to anyone already familiar with the NP’s, a description of their amalgam of instrumentation that forms their thick melodious stew, topped with the impressive vocal mesh led by A.C. Newman, may ring boilerplate. That being said, Challengers isn’t without its out nuances.
The songs, though driving at times, seem to take a slight step back to allow a more expansive feeling, almost like taking a look up at the starry sky on a clear night, and thinking about how you should take the time to do that more often. Taking one’s time… it’s clear that the band has done just that on this album, the effort to add a somewhat organic element on Challengers by including a string section, flute, plenty of piano and organ and even a french horn (a first on an NP’s album according to Newman), succeeds without being pretentious.
In addition to the beautifully solemn title track, “My Rights Versus Yours,” “Unguided” and “Go Places” are all songs that tread in the thin space where sorrow and joy intersect. When all is done Challengers leaves you with the sense that for all the world’s ugly reality, we need only take a breath, step back and look up, even if for only a moment.
Leave a comment