Side projects are mostly for the benefit of the artists doing them, happenstance concepts that fall into categories of being repellently esoteric or quality ideas that can’t be repeated, “sure, why not?” one shots. Vancouver notet The New Pornographers are, amazingly, a side project, an indie superstar lineup of artists such as A. C. Newman, Neko Case, and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, a familial group of artists who have known each other for decades.
The Porns' Pop
The New Pornographers music is lively, catchy, and expansive; it's ruthlessly laden with smart harmonies (some songs here have up to three hooks in the same number of minutes). They coalesce the maturity of indie rock with irresistible power-pop bravado, and are as symbiotic as can be—the pop doesn’t allow the indie to loiter, while the indie keeps the pop clever and refreshing, with lines you’re not likely to hear in pop songs elsewhere: “Two sips from the cup of human kindness and I’m shit-faced.”
"A Constantly Changing Sound"
Lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboarder, and harmonica, organ, and xylophone player Newman says a constantly changing sound is a fun way to play with people’s expectations.
“I hope people wonder what we’re gonna do next,” he says. “I really don’t want us to repeat ourselves. It’s a good transitional record; from here on in, everything goes.”
Just the Nine of Us
Seemingly, a band with nine members would produce near-constant infighting, creative bickering, and bruised egos across the board. Smartly, the band only rarely crams into a single studio; mostly, they come and go on shifts, spelling each other as songs develop. Newman, the only mainstay, says things stay pretty amicable.
“You know, I think everybody’s got their own creative vent. A lot of this band is left to me—I no means do it by myself, but on a lot of decisions I get veto power. You want to use everything you can; basically you want everybody to put ideas down, then go through and use what works. . . .Most of the time it’s all kept and no one really gets their feelings hurt.”
"I can do the 'yeah, yeah, yeah'"
Newman’s lyrics remain as cryptic as they are catchy, with sing-a-long curios like “Sweet sweet sweet sweet fires in the street, let’s sully every stage / Lick my lips, twist my hips, but Contessa, I already did.” As to what he means exactly, Newman is just as evasive.
“Mostly I just like the sound of words and I don’t really like when the lyrics are pedestrian. I can do the ‘yeah, yeah, yeah,’ but the ‘She loves you’ I don’t know so much about. [The lyrics are] kind of whatever my minds tells me, but I’m not usually worried about literal translation. I trust my mind to tell me the truth, even if nobody else understands it. I just write about whatever, but I don’t think anybody can really tell. It’s just my lot in life, nobody understands me,” he says in mock lament.
That Band Name
As far as the name goes, Newman tries to think up something on the spot, then relents it’s just a non sequitur. “There isn’t really any significance to the name. Some people think it’s offensive. It’s no more offensive than Barenaked Ladies or Cowboy Junkie. It’s just a Canadian tradition of having blandly offensive names.”
The New Pornographers are currently on tour. Hear A.C. Newman talk about his recently released Challengers with Pitchfork media here.
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