The New Pornographers is a Canadian/American indie rock supergroup formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their music is often described as power pop, with some critics likening their sound to that of Cheap Trick.
Carl Newman, who writes most of the band's material, has said, "When I seriously started to try to write songs, my main influences were, like, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and Brian Wilson. Those were the guys I kinda looked at t...
more
The New Pornographers is a Canadian/American indie rock supergroup formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their music is often described as power pop, with some critics likening their sound to that of Cheap Trick.
Carl Newman, who writes most of the band's material, has said, "When I seriously started to try to write songs, my main influences were, like, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and Brian Wilson. Those were the guys I kinda looked at their music and went, 'What the hell are they doing here?' I was just fascinated by the structures and the harmonics." Many of Newman's own songs have a similar harmonic complexity. For instance, the titular songs of the band's first two albums use at least six distinct major chords each, suggesting two or three different keys. The melody of the second of those songs, "The Electric Version", begins with an arpeggiated diminished triad—a rare opening flourish for a pop song.
Newman shares the lead vocal duties with Dan Bejar and Neko Case. The...
less
