Rock Music Is The New Pornography

June 16, 2003

It’s been a week since I saw the New Pornographers at the Knitting Factory and I still find myself listening to their CDs when I get the chance. Unlike other shows that blew me away with raw energy or virtuoso playing, The New Pornographers did it the old fashioned way: by playing a set of songs so exuberantly joyful that it would have been impossible to not have any fun.

If you don’t know, The New Pornographers are a superband out of Vancouver, delivering the finest power pop rock available today. Using six members, they’re able to recreate their incredibly dense studio sound with five instrumentalists and four vocalists (three people pull double duty, for those trying to sort out the math at home).

The real key to their sound is vocalist Neko Case, who supplies the top part of the harmony on all their songs, and occasionally takes on the lead vocal. Her high end power takes material that is already virulently catchy to unimagined levels. Carl Newman is the main songwriter, and plays the affable frontman with dry wit and subtle charm. In between sets, he would riff on Lionel Richie and his starwatching escapades in Hollywood: “I saw David Duchovny and Tea Leoni today, and I was SO impressed, even though I’ve hated everything they’ve ever done. I’m so gay for fame.” The other guy to watch is drummer Kurt Dahle, who sits high in the saddle and makes drumming like a drunken retard seem so effortlessly cool. He’ll also open your Corona with the fat end of his drumstick, a fine, fine party trick.

Opening with the title track off The Electric Version, the New Pornographers steamrolled through a set that included virtually all the new material off the new album and a smattering off the first, Mass Romantic. I’m reticent to give highlights as everything sounded so good, jumping from dizzying melodic hooks to cathartic choruses and mesmerizing turnarounds and bridges. New material that popped included “All for Swinging You Around,” “The Laws Have Changed” and “Miss Teen Wordpower.” I was enthralled by the Adam Ant-like stickwork intro for “The New Face of Zero and One” and the four part vocal round that helps close out “Testament to Youth and Verse.” The original album came up huge as well, with the sloppy fun of “Jackie” and “The Body Says No.” The main set closed with “Letter To An Occupant,” arguably one of the greatest songs written in the past 20 years. The encore consisted of the bouncy “Slow Descent Into Alcoholism,” “Breakin’ The Law” and a new wavey cover of Def Leppard’s “Action.”

The three part bill actually started three hours earlier with The Organ. The Organ is another Canadian outfit, drawing their sound mostly from The Cure and Joy Division. In modern terms, that means they sound like a female fronted Interpol as much as anything. Their songwriting isn’t quite up to snuff yet, as I found that their songs lacked a sense of dynamism… the choruses, bridges and verses all sound the same and the songs just kind of end. Still, I really liked their sound and hope they come through with something really good for their next album.

Cinerama followed with a really hot set that completely took me by surprise. I actually have a few Cinerama albums and they’re mostly laid back indie-pop affairs, with the only real difference being a snakey sensuality that comes up through the vocals and the basslines. Live, all those elements are still there, but there was a much harder edge to everything, and everything rocked a lot more like David Gedge’s old band, The Wedding Present. Part of this comes from the arrangement, as there are no horns, keys or strings to be found anywhere on stage. I’d credit the rest of it to the strong drumwork by whoever their touring drummer was (they have a rotating lineup and I honestly have no idea who it was).

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Anyone interested in The New Pornographers can download “The New Face of Zero and One” and “The Laws Have Changed.” The also have the entire album available as a stream, although it didn’t work for me when I tried it.

Also, the New Pornographers will be the musical guest on The David Letterman Show on Tuesday, June 17th. Don’t miss that.

Posted in From Blown Speakers