The New P0rnogr@phers Are 26 Years 0ld

I still remember the excitement of hearing "Mass Romantic" on college radio for the first time.  The New Pornographers sounded so different to my ears from other indie rock of 2000. It was a maximalist form of pop music, jam-packed with novel lyrical and melodic ideas, plus vocal arrangements that recalled groups like The Turtles. If you need a reminder of what was popular that year, check out Allmusic Loves 2000 or the Fluxblog 2000 Survey mix.

To be fair, I hadn't heard Zumpano (Carl Newman's former band), and it was a few years before I bought King James Version (Harvey Danger's remarkable 2000 album, which also featured elaborate vocal harmonies and clever lyrics).  Who but The New Pornographers could rhyme "set the scene" with "Byzantine" -- or create an irresistable chorus from the phrase, "Nobody knows the wreck of the soul the way you do"?

The liner notes to their debut announced, "We are The New Pornographers. This album is the second creation of The Blue Curtain," begging the question of what The Blue Curtain was, and what its first creation might have been.  I suspect it was Blaine Thurier's film The Low Self-Esteem Girl (which featured his bandmates Carl Newman and Dan Bejar as actors).

Dan Bejar had released Destroyer's Thief album in 1999, and Neko Case released Furnace Room Lullaby in 2000, adding to the impression that The New Pornographers was an indie supergroup, or a collective.  Dan's contributions to New Pornographers' albums gradually diminished as Destroyer flourished, and he left after 2014's Brill Bruisers.  

Neko Case has also had a successful solo career, and she collaborates with many other artists.  I'm pleased to report that Neko is still a New Pornographer and can be heard on the new album The Former Site Of.  She harmonizes beautifully with Carl Newman, but she is lead vocalist less often than she was back in the early 2000's (on songs like "Letter From An Occupant", "All For Swinging You Around" and "Mass Romantic").

John Collins was a founding New Pornographer, and he balances his work with Destroyer and other projects. Todd Fancey joined as lead guitarist in 2003, and he maintains a solo career as well as his membership as a Pornographer in good stead.  The same is true of Kathryn Calder, who joined in 2005 and also leads the group Frontperson. Wikipedia has a helpful chart of the New Pornographers' membership over the years.  Ironically, a drummer was recently fired after an arrest for child pornography.

Here's a CD-length "best of" The New Pornographers, starting with a song from the new album and working backwards to 2000.  The New Pornographers are touring North America through October 2026.  A word of advice, if you're going: I've seen Neko have audience members thrown out for recording cell phone videos.  

Buy The Former Site Of 

Buy tickets to see The New Pornographers

Elsewhere On The Blog: Neko Case's sister from another mister, Kelly Hogan