With their 2000 debut album, Mass Romantic, the New Pornographers established themselves as 21st century torchbearers of smart, sophisticated power pop. Hailing from Vancouver, the band’s deep roster of individual singer/songwriters and crafty instrumentalists gave them a unique, multi-voiced advantage and posed them as more of a collective or supergroup, albeit one with a surprisingly streamlined sonic identity. Spearheaded by Carl Newman, along with mainstays Neko Case, Dan Bejar, John Collins, and Todd Fancey, the New Pornographers were consistent critical favorites throughout the decade with standout releases like 2005’s Twin Cinema and 2007’s Challengers. Even as membership began to fluctuate over the coming years, they reached a new commercial peak with 2014’s Brill Bruisers. The band ended their second decade with 2019’s In the Morse Code of Brake Lights, then kicked off a new contract with Merge Records on 2023’s Continue as a Guest, their ninth album.
Newman formed the New Pornographers in 1997, their name inspired by Japanese director Shōhei Imamura’s film The Pornographers. Fresh off a stint leading Vancouver power pop outfit Zumpano, he stacked his new project’s roster with other luminaries from the city’s vibrant late-’90s indie rock scene. By 1999, the New Pornographers boasted a wrecking crew of prominent Vancouver-area players including singer/guitarist Dan Bejar (Destroyer), bassist John Collins (the Evaporators), lead guitarist Todd Fancey (Limblifter, Fancey), drummer Kurt Dahle (Limblifter), keyboardist and independent filmmaker Blaine Thurier, and American singer Neko Case, who was living in the city at the time of the band’s formation.
Recorded sporadically over the previous three years and finally released in 2000, the New Pornographers’ first album, Mass Romantic, was a resounding critical success and in Canada it went on to win the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Having so many bandmembers involved in other projects presented its difficulties, and it would be another three years before the band regrouped for their follow-up. Released in 2003 by American label Matador, Electric Version built on the promise of their debut and helped cement the New Pornographers’ reputation for pairing complex, melodic pop with rock muscle, not unlike the Cars or Cheap Trick. With lead vocals generally split between Newman, Case, and Bejar, they also offered an appealing mix of tones and styles united by a shared musical sense.