Best Band You’ve Probably Never Heard Of: New Pornographers
People are making you do things. I’m making you go buy Twin Cinema. No seriously, these guys are great. The New Pornographers are a Vancouver based band with enough pop appeal to draw your little sister, and enough lyrical depth for you to justify listening to the same band as your younger sibling.
Most of the time, primary songwriter A.C. Newman comes off as flippant in his delivery, but his overriding genius in melody and musical prose soon nullifies any suspicions that he doesn’t mean every word he says. Guest singer Neko Case, who’s brilliant in her own right, tames down her normally transcendent voice to be an excellent team player for the New Pornos. Even the songs where she sings the lead vocal (see Bones of an Idol and These are the Fables) she plays the perfect Female Pinocchio- a puppet with all the brightness and life of a real girl. When she’s singing back-up, her harmonies lie down and richly texture the soundscapes.
Songs like Sing Me Spanish Techno, Use It (video below), and the title track on their latest album, Twin Cinema will instantly lure you in and keep you hooked on the more subtle tunes.
Go discover them today. Twin Cinema is one of the most enduringly great listens of 2005 (i.e. I’m still listening to it now, if that means anything). If you already know about this band, re-discover them. It's not turning back the clock too far, trust me.
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