New Pornographers - Challengers
Coming across like the X-Men of the indie rock world, Canadian supergroup New Pornographers count among their numbers Destroyer’s Dan Behar and chanteuse Neko Case. But do not fret, for there is no Audioslave ego-tripping on show here. In fact, vocal duties are evenly split between the main contributors, the downside being that the New Pornographers are often a ship without an anchor. ‘Challengers’ feels less like a cohesive album, and more like a collection of songs. But that is not to say that they are not great songs. ‘My Rights Versus Yours’ is a spry pop ditty, while the half-sung, half-spoken ‘Myriad Harbour’ evokes the sloppy rhythms of ‘Walk On The Wild Side’. Sadly, ‘All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth’ is freakishly similar to the one song that Kaiser Chiefs’ keep on churning out, but then you can’t have everything. Thankfully, there is plenty to savour elsewhere: along with the velvet folds of Case’s voice, there is a smorgasbord of styles on offer, as everything from pop to folk to prog rock is thrown at the wall. Not all of it sticks, but the lovely but spooky ‘Adventures In Solitude’ sure does – like a poison dart.
Words_Ross Thompson
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DOWNLOAD: ‘My Rights Versus Yours’, ‘Myriad Harbour’
FOR FANS OF: Belle And Sebastian, The Decemberists, The Reindeer Section
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