The beat goes on
The New Pornographers just won’t stop – and why should they?
It's a minor miracle the New Pornographers made it this far. Actually, it's amazing the band kept going after releasing their debut and straightup masterpiece “Mass Romantic” in 2000.
What started as a one-off project built out of Vancouver's up-and-coming '90s indie stars — including Zumpano's Carl Newman, Maow's Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar — became legendary within the modern rock scene. With this in mind, Newman isn't surprised the New Pornographers have released a killer album, “Whiteout Conditions,” without Bejar's input.
“At the end of 2000, a month after `Mass Romantic' came out, Dan said he was moving to Spain, and I thought, `Well, Dan's out of the band,' ” Newman said ahead of a gig at House of Blues on Tuesday. “Then a year and a half later, he came back in time to work on the next album. But even then I was sure. He didn't tour with us until 2005. He never wanted to be in any band photos.”
So Bejar is gone while he works on another Destroyer record. And yet, there's no drama.
“My relationship with Dan is the same as it's always been,” Newman said. “We were in Vancouver for tour rehearsals and we all went out for drinks.”
What is different is a New Porngraphers album completely written by Newman. An upbeat (sonically, if not lyrically) set of songs, “Whiteout Conditions” could almost be called a dance record.
“I love the idea of the songs being faster and, at the same time, lighter,” he said. “It's like a sleight of hand, a song that's 180 beats per minute but is driven by an acoustic guitar, and the vocals are sort of laid back. It's a weird reference point, but if you listen to Willie Nelson's `On the Road Again,' it's a classic example of a song where his delivery is laid back but the music is sort of manic, the drum beat is like a train.”
He also gives Krautrock as a reference: quick music with an almost airy quality. While the last album, “Brill Bruisers,” explored a bit of this sound, most of this is new to Newman. That gets him excited.
In the past, he's gotten sick of writing the same thing. Somehow on the universally adored “Twin Cinema,” he wondered if his songwriting had become stale. The band has never sounded stale or even average. That's probably because of Newman's vigilance.
“I have no perspective, but in my mind, (the opening track) `Play Money' might be my favorite thing that I've ever done,” he said. “I don't know why that is. It might be because it feels different to me; it might be because of the arrangement. I just love the vibe of it.”
While Case has become a major solo artist (her 2009 album “Middle Cyclone” landed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200) and Bejar's Destroyer enjoys a large cult following, Newman thinks the New Pornos will be around to make more discs.
“It's shocking to still be here after 16 years,” he said. “We have this weird dynamic, with Dan in the band, with Neko in the band, I'm always amazed when we can get together at all, but we've done it for seven albums now. Why not do it again?”
‘It’s shocking to still be here after 16 years.’ — CARL NEWMAN
The New Pornographers, with Waxahatchee, at House of Blues, Tuesday. Tickets: $30-$49; houseofblues.com/ boston.