Music is all about types, isn’t it? The more I write about it, the harder it is to avoid dropping a “sounds like…” – something which is especially hard to do given the number of bands I really enjoy these days who all play variations on the same power-pop-meets-New Wave theme.
And of all the references, the easiest to fall back on has to be The New Pornographers. I wouldn’t really have guessed it back in the days of Mass Romantic, which gave me the impression of being a pure one-off, a side project that had somehow caught lightning in a jar. But then they came out with Electric Version which was really pretty good (and is often a little underrated in my opinion) and Twin Cinema, which was even better than Mass Romantic.
And so, without me really noticing, they had become almost an indie-rock institution, the referent point for hundreds of other bands. They were experimenting, moving away from the blistering feel of that first record, but without losing any of their charm. And you started to imagine them popping out a great new record every couple years.
So what happened? The short answer is that great records only sound effortless – it takes a tremendous amount of work, talent, and yes, luck for it all to turn out right. The ingredients are all great, you mix them together well, but you can never be quite sure how the cake will turn out until you pull it out of the oven. Sometimes you get a Twin Cinema and sometimes you end up with Challengers.
The latter isn’t bad by any stretch – even if you don’t mix it quite right, the premise and ingredients are good enough to produce something enjoyable – but you can’t help but feeling disappointed. No one’s going to say no to a piece of cake, but if they’re expecting Finale and they get Shaw’s, they might be a little annoyed.
So the verdict:
My biggest complaint has to be that it is often more than a little flat. “My Right Versus Yours,” for example, is pretty clearly a yeastless version of “The Laws Have Changed.” There’s an especially noticeable dip in the middle (“Myriad Harbor” through “Failsafe”), which they try to cover up with some extra frosting without much success.
As for flavor, they certainly experiment a bit, but for the most part it’s too tentative. You’re left wondering if it might have been better to really let loose rather than adding just a chile or too and calling it “Latin inspired.” It isn’t different enough to be truly affecting. Instead, the differences sometimes only serve to call attention to the clashing tastes (see “Entering White Cecilia”).
All that said, these weaknesses are more than a little compensated by surprising layers once you start to dig in, including the delightful “Unguided” and “Go Places” – both of which would be among the best songs on any of their records.
If it was from virtually anyone other than the New Pornographers, the strengths would be enough to convince me to overlook the weaknesses. If it was some band I had never heard of, I would probably praise it as a fine new entry in the genre of “New Pornographers-esque” indie rock.
They certainly don’t do anything wrong here – they just fail to do things as well as I may have hoped. But we all need to remember that taste is a very subtle and subjective thing. Not everyone can be The Beatles, releasing a all-time classic every 9 months. From mortal bands, we have to take a lot of B- records in exchange for the occasional A+. It may even be the sign of a great band that you still enjoy listening to them even when they’re a little off their game.