With their latest musical effort “Challengers,” The New Pornographers continue to follow the path of releasing remarkable indie-pop albums. Through chipper guitar melodies and numerous layers of front and backing vocals, The New Pornographers have yet to stray too far from their successful songwriting formula. However, that’s not to say each and every one of the group’s four albums does not take on its own unique personality. “Challengers” is no exception.
The most notable difference of the album resides in the extraordinary work of main vocalists A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar and Neko Case (Kathryn Calder provides leading vocals on the track “Failsafe”). The members take turns fulfilling the duty of lead vocals on various tracks while lending impeccable backup vocals when not in the spotlight. It’s not an original concept for the band, but much more noticeable in this vocally driven album.
With the exception of the guitar-driven, “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth,” the most musically accessible track on the album, songs tend to move slower than those on the band’s critically acclaimed 2005 release, “Twin Cinema.” This shifts the focus of listeners to the lyrical croonings of the predominantly featured Newman, allowing him to show off his vocal talent and get his message across.. Fortunately, there’s not a bad track on the whole album, continuing the band’s high standards.
There are no better examples of the superb vocal work on the album than Case’s “Go Places” as well as her duet with Newman on “Adventures in Solitude.” Although he only lends writing and lead vocal credits to three songs on the album, Bejar unsurprisingly provides three truly musical gems. There is always a notable and refreshing difference between Bejar’s solo work (when he’s known simply as Destroyer) and his contributions to The New Pornographers. The album’s closer, “The Spirit of Calling,” is Bejar at his best – horns wail, harp springs resonate and guitars strum in an orchestral orgasm.
While listening to “Challengers,” the influence of great bands such as the Zombies and the Beach Boys makes itself more apparent than ever before. In both the harmonic vocal work and melding of typical rock ‘n’ roll instruments with bells, whistles, keyboards, strings and a slew of other musical apparatuses found in the Pornographers’ vast arsenal, the classic sound of decades past receives a facelift for the present. The final result is an exceptionally impressive partner to the band’s lyrical musings.
The only utterly trivial fault in “Challengers” lies in The New Pornographers’ refusal to deviate from their routine method of songwriting. Whether it’s not having enough time between the myriad solo projects of Newman, Case and Bejar, or the fear of putting out a bad album, the band tends to stick with what they know when it comes to recording. As the saying goes: “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” For the fourth time around, it still sounds great.
