Based out of fairest Canadia ,the New Pornographers draw their influences out of many different types of music, including rock, pop, jazz, folk and country, but the end result is eminently listenable Indie Rock. Lyrically they can be difficult to approach - they seem to grab hold of every idea that comes their way and jam it into the songs, occasionally causing a schizophrenia on par with The Beatles 'Day in the Life'. But somehow it all works. Happy clappy pop rubs shoulders with the dense ochestration of all those indie bands that take themselves too seriously (*cough*arcadefire*cough*).
They've released 3 or 4 albums as it stands, with the last two - 'Twin Cinema' and 'Challengers' being the most accessible of the lot. If forced at angry badger-point to choose, I'd have to pick 'Twin Cinema' - it ranks as one of my favourite albums of all time, and is responsible for me killing my hearing by playing "Use It" far too loud!
That seems like a decent point to throw some links your way
The afformentioned Use It
Sing Me Spanish Techno
and Challengers - the title track off their latest album
...pretty good, eh?
It would be totally remiss of me not to mention Neko Case when talking about the Pornos. All the members of the band have bands/solo careers of their own, but Case is one of the most famous. She also stands out since her solo stuff is extremely country-based - a million miles away from the tunes she sings with the rest of the group. Still, she brings to them some fantastic harmonies and excellent song-writing skills. I would have no doubt in saying 'go see them, hypothetical undecided blog-reader!', but that goes double if you're lucky enough to catch them when Neko is playing, since she seems to have an on/off relationship with them.
Anyways, they be good, so go listen!
J
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Loving the geeky reference in the title!
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