Can't wait to get Together

I love this band: Easily one of my favorites of the last decade, Canada's New Pornographers features some major musical talent. Among them: Carl Newman (formerly of Zumpano and creator of several very good solo albums), vocalist extraordinaire Neko Case, and Destroyer's Dan Bejar (rhymes with 'ledger' as they explained in a concert I attended a while back). But more importantly, they write great, beautiful, catchy tunes. Here's a sample of their work, from the debut album Mass Romantic. I like the way they combine such a serious topic with such light, bouncy melody/harmonies.



I sometimes lose faith that modern rock bands can actually write hooks and complete songs like they used to (read pre-2000's). Take for example Caribou's latest, Swim, which just bleeps along amiably but doesn't really amount to anything, song-wise (despite the warm AMG review).

But the New Pornographers (unfortunate name, that - still awkward to tell friends about them) just keep cranking out one memorable song after another. And it's not just great "power pop," either, as there's real emotional weight to a lot of their songs. For example, check out "Challengers," from the album of the same title.

The NP's are one of the few bands that when I hear they have a new release out, I just order it retail, no questions asked - my way of saying, "I really respect this band and want to support them."

Here's one of Bejar's songs with a trippy video, to give you a sample of what he adds to the band:



And so, just out today, the new album: Together. (Allmusic review.) Here's the Amazon listing, only $7.99 plus shipping! Judging by the song samples, I'm not going to be disappointed.

Love that album art, too...it's got a magical, hard-to-define quality about it. Click image to enlarge:



Can't wait for it to arrive and play it in the Corolla for full Car-Surround Sound!