Give it a ‘G’ rating

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

Of all the band names sloshing about in the great lexicon of rock and pop monikers, Vancouver’s the New Pornographers has always stood out as one rife with curious implications.
Legend has it that Pornographers founder A.C. Newman was riffing on a comment by the blithering, prostitute-addicted televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who likened rock music to "the new pornography."
The string of albums the band has put out over the last decade contains music hardly as prurient as that; rather, the brainy, sweetly melodic guitar-driven pop is the kind of stuff that leaves you feeling buoyant and invigorated.
And while their music can verge on the obscene, when it comes to packing songs with affable pop hooks, the lyrical aspects are not without their darker, lurid implications.
That seems especially true on the Pornographers’ latest release, 2007’s Challengers.
Here the band has toned down some the more electronic elements that gave earlier works a zippy synth-pop edge, and instead brought in a more complete string section and threw in some less common instruments like the French horn.
The arrangement is far from tuned-down: opener My Rights Versus Yours builds gradually, but when it finally gets to its peak, it’s an energy-charged pop number with its cryptic refrain of "The truth in one free afternoon . . . a new empire of rags." Backing up Newman’s impossibly earnest vocals and intriguing lyrics are steadily beaten battlefield drums, unconventional harmonies and driving guitar riffs.
They keep that pace going with All the Old Showstoppers, which gets right to the point and treats the listener to more warm harmonies and wonderfully layered strings.
By the time the title track hits, with Neko Case’s smoky, cool delivery played right up front, it’s clear that the Pornographers have put together an album that hits all the necessary chords to achieve pop greatness while also digging into lyrical content worthy of meditation.
Song’s like Dan Bejar’s (solo, Destroyer) Myriad Harbor are image-rich and uplifting, filled with double meanings and hidden intricacies.
It’s this multifarious quality that makes Challengers such a continuously satisfying listen — even a full year after its release. The diverse levels of appeal contained in the release, the band’s fourth since 1997, also help to explain why the 12-track album saw the band bound into mainstream acknowledgement after years of hovering as an indie favorite.
In addition to Newman, Case and Bejar, the Pornographers summon the talents of several other notable musicians who give great, rocking life to the songs. Their sound is big, bordering on orchestral pop. And that’s just what they’ll need to fill the cavernous hall of the Electric Factory amid the din of the upper-deck bars.
Opening for the Pornographers is Andrew Bird, a self-described "professional whistler" who also wields a mean violin and isn’t bad on the guitar or glockenspiel, either.
His songs are harmonic pop masterpieces with a definite folk influence that can recall Beck’s more Americana moments.
The Chicago musician has had albums on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe records and Fat Possum records, and he has put out close to a dozen full-lengths, including his work with the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
Over the years, he has dipped into kitschy Americana, Gypsy folk, New Orleans jukebox jams and downright pop — but he always displays a sharp pop sensibility that makes his music compelling. ••

See them play…

Who: The New Pornographers and Andrew Bird
What: A solid double bill of indie power pop and subdued folk
Where: The Electric Factory, 421 N. 4th St.
When: Saturday, Aug. 9, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $28.