The New Pornographers

The New Pornographers formed in Vancouver in 1997 around A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar of Destroyer, and Neko Case. They built a sound on layered harmonies and sharp melodies, eventually adding members like Kathryn Calder and John Collins. Their 2007 album 'Challengers' became a particular focus, with songs like 'Adventures In Solitude' and 'The Bleeding Heart Show' showing their knack for detailed arrangements.

That album arrived after the band had already put out records like 'Twin Cinema' in 2005. The group's structure has always been loose, with members balancing the band against their own solo projects, which might explain the collaborative, sometimes crowded feel of their music.

Their songs often turn on clever wordplay and shifting vocal parts, as you can hear in tracks like 'All The Old Showstoppers' or 'Stacked Crooked.' They won a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year at one point, but mostly they've just kept making records that feel both meticulous and casually inventive, without much fuss about their place in anything.