Feature Review: the New Pornographers Challengers

The New Pornographers Challengers (Matador)

Once in a while, you walk into a bar, and you order a martini. You know what a martini is, you've drank dozens of martinis in your life. Maybe you have a martini recipe you make at home and particularly love. Maybe you're even the sort of person who can say smart things about the differences in various gins. But, on occasion, you order a martini, and it's not just a martini, it's a very special martini. And, it's still just gin, vermouth and an olive, but the person behind the bar really knows what they're doing and makes a martini for the ages, a martini you will talk about for years. “Remember that night at Vick's,” you'll say, “That was one of the best goddamn drinks I've had in my life.” Occasionally, there is a pop song like that martini. It's still made of hooks, vocal harmonies and clever self-referential lyrics, but it's just better than the sum of its parts. It's a pop song that sinks into your memories, even if, ultimately, it's still just a pop song.

The New Pornographers' latest effort, Challengers includes just such a song. So catchy it's intoxicating, “Myriad Harbour” makes a strong case for the continuing relevance of power pop. There is nothing in the song that's all that new. It is, as suggested previously, made of pop hooks, guitar lines, vocal harmonies and clever self-referential lyrics, but the blend practically sparkles. The sound builds on the brightest bits of the Velvet Underground and the Pixies, and incorporates tricks from the '90s indie pop playbook. It's as brilliant as it is familiar.

Then there is the rest of the album. To be fair, most of it is solid enough. The title track is soothing and sweet sounding, but unexceptional. “Unguided” seems to have a bit of arena-rock influence, building to a chorus that could have been ripped from a particularly clever power ballad. All it needs is a lighter-wielding audience to sing along. Nowhere does Challengers seem to be as strong as it is on “Myriad Harbour.” Ultimately, much of the record seems to meander along, and a few tracks are frustratingly repetitive. “Go Places,” featuring Neko Case's normally captivating vocals, is just flat dull.

2005's Twin Cinema made it obvious that the New Pornographers were a viable band in their own right, and not just a side project for the AC Newman and the group's other notable members. And, while Challengers doesn't make it seem that the act is all washed up, it doesn't match the power of the last album. The strength of “Myriad Harbour” is hardly enough to carry the record. The other outbursts of high pop energy aren't as seductive, and many of the slower tracks lack interest. Fans of the New Pornographers will likely enjoy Challengers; it certainly isn't awful, but for those who were expecting something deeply inspired, this just isn't it.

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