Music	Powerpoppers/Showstoppers by Donny Kutzbach

When you have an inexplicable pool of talent in one place it rarely yields big results. Like a great sports team stacked with the superstar players that can’t pull together the chemistry to make it to the playoffs. Or the world leaders who get together for a summit but can’t get a thing done.

By those rules, the New Pornographers just shouldn’t work—but this is something else entirely: rock and roll. In this case, as the Vancouver-based collective once sang, “the laws have changed.”

Like some hydra-headed beast of pop prowess and hooky rock majesty, they keep on going. It’s hard to imagine the Carl Newman-centered band—a band that includes the acclaimed singer/songwriter Neko Case and underground bard Dan Bejar in its ranks—would have made it past a couple albums. Nonetheless, with their fourth full-length, Challengers (Matador), they’ve pulled off an adroit combination of the Pornographers’ patented super-juiced power pop, painstakingly detailed arrangements, cleverly crafted melodies and storytelling, while still taking a calculated risk.

Challengers takes some time to unfold. Where it lacks the hooky immediacy of Electric Version and the sublime touches and stylistic cohesion that filled Twin Cinema, it’s the kind of record made by a group unafraid to grow into its own skin. “My Rights Versus Yours” is Beach Boys gone Kinks, while “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth” is pure, by-the-numbers Pornographers. Bejar leads the charge on a deftly choreographed folk-pop New York City triptych “Myriad Harbor.” On the other hand, “Fail,” featuring Kathryn Calder’s vocals, has a good song underneath the dull, prefab, new-wave gurgling. Neko Case leads the way on the beautiful “Go Places,” an up-and-down ride that’s uncluttered but finds a violin to lift it to an end.

You can decide if this is their best or your favorite New Pornographers record at a later date. For now, one thing is clear: This record sounds more like a work by a complete unit than any of the outfit’s previous offerings. Ultimately, a strange thing happened to New Pornos along the way: They became a proper band, not just a side project—not just a Carl Newman with guests but a band. If the current tour, said to include Bejar and Case again, is any proof, it must be working.

The New Pornographers play this Saturday, October 20 at the Riviera Theater, 67 Webster Street, North Tonawanda (692-2113, rivieratheater.org), with special guest Emma Pollack.

Porn Stars

The New Pornographers’ sum might be greater than its parts, but it’s certainly got some pretty impressive parts. And in no way are we suggesting that bassist John Collins, guitarist/keyboardist/synth player/filmmaker Blaine Thurier Todd Fancey or drummer Kurt Dahle are not shining stars in this band; it’s just that they hide a little better than the others.

Carl (A.C.) Newman

Background: Newman,the benevolent dictator of the New Pornographers, started the band as an in-between project after dissolving previous efforts Zumpano and Superconductor in the late 1990s. The Vancouver native enlisted the help of local friends to fill out the lineup, and the band that would come to be called an “indie rock supergroup”—a moniker Newman hates—was born.

Essential non-Porns listening: Zumpano, Look What the Rookie Did (Sub Pop); A.C. Newman, The Slow Wonder (Matador).

Neko Case

Background: Born in Virginia, coming of age in Tacoma, Washington, and ended up at school in Vancouver, where she became immersed in the sprawling local scene, playing in a host of bands. Case found a passion for country music and, starting with 1997’s The Virginian, she began issuing records each more compelling than the last. The fact that Neko Case remains a part of the core of New Pornographers speaks volumes about the red-haired chanteuse’s dedication to the band’s music, something of a 180-degree spin from the rootsy rock and folk-tinged music that has marked her career. 2006 saw her release Fox Confessor Brings the Flood—Artvoice’s album of the year—a hypnotic masterpiece that made her an international star.

Essential non-Porns listening: Blacklisted (Bloodshot); Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti).

Dan Bejar

Background: This is one of rock’s most unsung geniuses, particularly under his moniker Destroyer. Daniel Bejar calls his genre-defiant brand of music “European blues,” and the name fits. His upside-down, open-ended poetry and poignant, pastiche, cutup lyrics owe debts to Dylan and Bowie. His melodies and arrangements—loaded with unmistakable panache and unrepentant baroqueness—are part chamber music, part glam rock. Bejar has long been the Pornographers’ “secret member,” but his unmistakable songs always stick out on the band’s records. At live shows he’s known to hide out backstage in between songs and amble out when it’s his turn to sing. In addition to the Pornographers and Destroyer, Bejar issued late 2006’s Beast Moans under the moniker Swan Lake alongside Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) and Spencer Krug (Frog Eyes, Wolf Parade.)

Essential non-Porns listening: Destroyer, Streethawk: A Seduction (Misra); Destroyer, This Night (Merge).

Kathryn Calder

Background: Calder was Carl Newman’s long-lost niece (no bullshit!) and when the pair reconnected Newman had not only found a like-minded musical relative but someone to fill the holes during Neko Case’s in absentia stretches. She’s been a regular member since 2005. Calder spends her non-Pornographer time as keyboardist/vocalist for the trio Immaculate Machine.

Essential non-Porns listening: Immaculate Machine, Fables (Mint).