The New Pornographers - "Whiteout Conditions"

Since the early 2000's The New Pornographers have become one of my favorite artists, which is a term I throw around quite a bit, but I can't help it.  Started off as sort of a one time experiment, The New Pornographers over the years have become absolute titans in the power pop world.  With their 2000 debut "Mass Romantic", The New Pornographers combined thunderous indie riffs with catchy and memorable pop hooks.  Being a super-group, you got a ton of flavors from The New Pornographers, from the more artsy delivery of Dan Bejar's vocals, the the triumphant and surprisingly explosive vocals of Neko Case, as as A.C. Newman's usually cool and collected delivery as well.  Right off the bat, there was a little something for everyone here.  "Mass Romantic" was on the short side, but each song in it's own right was so damn memorable.  Needless to say, this one off experiment by these musicians turned into more or less a real thing.  Their next album, "Electric Version" (my favorite New Pornographers album) showed them dealing with some cleaner production, but most importantly seemed less gimmicky.  Like I said, as fantastic as "Mass Romantic" was, I felt like it had too much of a "one off" feel.  "Electric Version" sounded like New Pornographers really putting their heart into making their own sound.  The result is one of of the catchiest indie records you're going to hear ever, period.  On "Twin Cinema", New Pornographers backed up their already massive cult following with critical claim.  While the material here wasn't as catchy, but was wonderfully written and even more so structured.  They sort of ditched their "Power Pop" label here and focused on a more Indie Rock sound, but it ended up working great for them.  But with every great band, there comes that album that fans don't really like to talk about.  For me, That's 2007's "Challengers".  Tracks here like "All The Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth" were FANTASTIC, but overall The New Pornographers seems worn out.  The songwriting wasn't nearly as on point and the energy overall was down.    2010's "Together" however really tuned things around quick for the supergroup.  On this album, The New Pornographers seemed refreshed, and while there wasn't as many exciting tracks, the band doubled down on songwriting and sweet hooks as well as string arrangements.  2013's "Brill Bruisers" was a little different for the Pornographers.  Electronic music had always been something that the Pornographers have toyed with, but not THIS much.  "Brill Bruisers" was a very synth heavy album, but it actually really worked well for them.  The songs were just as catchy and well written, but also seemed a little more hip to the current state of indie.  These new singles, to be frank, are freakin' AWESOME, with The Pornographers sounding triumphant and filled with energy.  Let's talk about the rest of this shall we.

(Let's get in the groove ladies and gentlemen!)

This album starts off with “Play Money”.  Right off the bat, it’s clear that The New Pornographers are going to be sticking very close to the very electronic sound of their last album.  As a matter of fact, this may be the most synthetic sound they’ve worked with, and it really doesn’t come off too bad.  Thankfully however, Neko Case’s vocals bring tons of much needed life into this, and man has her voice aged well.  As far as the feel goes, this is certainly right in the same ball park as some of their older material.  I don’t know if it’s just me, but for me there has always been a very nostalgic, very sophisticated sound to the sound of The New Pornographers.  “Play Money” is smooth though, and to be honest even when Neko breaks out some duel vocals with A.C. Newman it comes off very nicely.  It’s a sweet smart for the album, and more than anything this proves that The New Pornographers are still on top of the power pop world.  My only real issue with this opening is that I wish there was a little more live instrumentation here.  It’s a little cold at times, but it’s still wonderfully up-lifting.  The New Pornographers are just getting started however.  The album’s title track “Whiteout Conditions” is up next, and instantly were dealing with a much bigger sounding atmosphere, and I just get this truly epic pop song feel here.  The synths here come off much more inviting, Blaine Thurier’s influence in The New Pornographers music has just gotten bigger and bigger over the years.  However, this track also has a whole lot more rock influence as well.  “Whiteout Conditions” really took me a few listens to really get into, but man can these guys ever write a hook effortlessly.  I’ve always got this sort of classic rock vibe deep down in the Pornographers music, and it makes me feel so young again listening to their stuff.  So hell yes, this is a brilliant single from one of this generations most important Power Pop bands.  It’s still very chilly sounding, but these verses stick with you so damn much that you forget about that completely.  Now one thing I do have to praise this album for, is just how triumphant it is, and there isn’t a more triumphant moment here than “High Ticket Attractions”.  Newman takes lead vocals here on this one, and to be honest he sounds a whole lot more energetic than he did on “Brill Bruisers”.  This is just so colorful, so absolutely pummeling with happiness and positive energy.  The material so far on this albums has been so solid with an overwhelming sense of unity, that if it continued like this, this could have been a classic.  Obviously the synth and this entire electronic vibe continues to be a HUGE component here, but it really doesn’t come off as cheap or like the band is trying to fit in.  On the contrary, I feel like they actually ushered it into their sound very nicely.  Up next is “This Is The World Of The Theatre”.  Now, one thing we haven’t talked about so far is the absence of Dan Bejar.  This is the first album they’ve done without him, and up to this point it really hasn’t been that much of a factor.  One thing The New Pornographers have done to make up for Dan’s absence is by giving the ladies real room to shine here.  Which honestly, is a HUGE plus, Neko Case and Kathryn Calder are both fantastic singers.  This track is just so peppy and adorable sounding, so much so that this MAY be my favorite Neko Case lead New Pornographers track I’ve heard in ages (especially since her work on the last album was just so underwhelming).  There continues to be a serious old school vibe to this, and very much more of a rock oriented feel as well, it really takes me back to their “Together” days.  Not to mention, The New Pornographers continue to proves that they’re seriously fantastic at writing stunning pop songs, if this hook doesn't stick in your head all day I feel bad for you buddy.  So far, this album’s been all good by me.  

“Darling Shade” is up next, which brings us right back into that much more electronic vibe.  One thing that I’m not really sold on when it comes to some of these more electronic sounding songs, is the drums work.  Sometimes it’s fine, but other times it comes off as a drum machine, and the results aren’t usually good.  As this track rolls on however, it certainly gets better.  By this point in the album though, honestly I’m starting to miss Dan Bejar, a lot.  While the Pornographers have certainly held their own without him, Dan certainly brought something special to the table with his unique voice and songwriting.  However, The New Pornographers continue to sound very unified, and I certainly love some of the group vocals and heavier guitar licks here.  Plus, I still stand by my word that this seriously comes off a little more youthful sounding than Brill Bruisers.  “Second Sleep” however, is this albums first real hiccup.  Right off the bat, this one really rubs me the wrong way.  The glitchy vocals and production do not do the slightest bit of justice to their sound.  Remember earlier when I said that they ushered in the more electronic sounds to their music really nicely?  Well on “Second Sleep”, that’s really not the case at all.  Here, everything sort of comes off cheesy and i just sounds like the Pornographers are seriously trying way too hard to be something they certainly are not.  Newman’s verse really doesn’t help anything either, because this mar be the most boring vocals I’ve heard on a New Pornographers track since some of the lesser tracks on “Challengers”.  Instrumentally, there are certainly some really good moments, the drumming here is actually really solid.  But everything else about “Second Sleep” comes off seriously rushed to the point where I can barely concentrate on it.  “Coliseums” has a lot of the same issues.  You know, at first I really liked this track, I think the vocals here are fantastic and I love the more upbeat feel to everything.  But is it just me, or is the production on this track seriously lacking.  Like, it sounds so tinny and low-fi, but not even in a good way.  Once again, this one comes off really rushed.  Earlier I was getting this feeling that they really took their time with a lot of the material here.  But this track overall, even though the production gets better, doesn’t even come off as a New Pornographers track.  I dunno what it DOES come off as, but this isn’t something I was expecting to hear.  Vocally, this is totally fine.  Even Instrumentally this one works, but their really is just something missing.  Thankfully, The Pornographers do get right back on track with “We’ve Been Here Before”.  This one is armed with a strangely elegant intro, and to be honest these are some of the strongest vocals I’ve heard in a while all around from the band.  “We’ve Been Here Before” overall is just as HUGE sounding as some of the singles here.  It’s icy and synth heavy but it’s also easily the most beautiful track here.  Personally, I feel like Dan Bejar would have absolutely ruled over this track if he was around, but as far as a late album tune goes, this is really stunning.  I honestly really wasn’t expecting a slower track here to be so powerful and beautiful, and overall this would be a solid direction for the band to go in in the future.  

“Juke” starts the last leg of of this new New Pornographers album off.  Now, while this is much more up front and much more of a straightforward sort of track for The New Pornographers (there’s almost a “Twin Cinema” vibe here), this really doesn’t come off good at all.  The instrumentals are fine, with much more live instrumentations.  But oh my GOD, lyrically and as far as the performances go here, this is easily the most forgettable and quite frankly most annoying track here.  Even the slight moments that the vocals DO come off nicely, it’s made annoying by this repetitive hook.  Not gonna lie guys, this one’s pretty bad.  “Clockwise” however is a complete turn around, being quite possibly the iciest and synth heavy track here.  But this one, works out really nicely.  I can’t stress enough just how well some of these more upbeat tracks have been working out for The Pornographers here.  Tracks like “Clockwise” come off so youthful and energetic, even exciting.  For the most part, overall the band did a really good job making up for Dan Bejar’s absence, but I certainly do still miss him.  But overall, I feel like when The New Pornographers just don’t try to do too much with the electronic element and let them come freely to their sound things end up working up smoothly.  “Avalanche Alley” is our finale here, and honestly it worried me with this slow start.  But it picks up really quickly and nicely however, once again showing off a little more of a straight up indie sound than anything.  It works out really nicely for them though, and “Avalanche Alley” ends up being the most focused sounding track since the earlier tunes here.  Seriously though, where the hell was THIS sound for the entire album.  If they gave me a few more tracks like this, this album would have SERIOUSLY matched up with the bands classic material easily.  But I digress, this is a really fantastic finale, and it actually gets me really excited to hear what The New Pornographers have for us in the future.  

Rating: 7.8/10

Give A Listen To - “High Ticket Attractions”, “This Is The World Of The Theatre”, “Whiteout Conditions”, “Avalanche Alley”

Overall Thoughts:  Now, I'm going to be honest.  When I first heard the first few singles on this album, I thought this was going to go toe to toe with albums like "Mass Romantic" and "Electric Version", I really did.  In the long run, it doesn't really, but it's certainly far from a bad album.  It's actually quite good.  It has more energy and a much more youthful sound than "Brill Bruisers", and some of the singles here are easily some of the best they've put out in years.  However, Dan Bejar is truly missed throughout this album.  His distinct voice and stunning lyrics that brought us so many classic New Pornographers' songs was seriously missed here.   The New Pornographers did bounce back nicely though, giving much more focus to Kathryn Calder and Neko Case, which is always welcome.  Overall, yea I may have expected a little bit more, but this is still a really solid New Pornographers album.