The recent May 4th release date of new albums by two of Canada's most celebrated indie music superpowers—Broken Social Scene and The New Pornographers—was a readymade compare-and-contrast fest for music-reviewer types like us: messy Torontonians and their kitchen-sink rock vs. perfectionist Vancouverites and their oblique gumball pop. And while there's certainly not much of a real rivalry to speak of (Kevin Drew and Carl Newman looked pretty comfy together singing backups for Feist on Letterman a couple years back), it does say something nice about the state of Canadian music that this pairing got as much press in the New York Times and The Guardian as it did in Now and Eye.
As its title would suggest, this fifth effort by the Pornos is a more unified one than the mid-tempo sugar crash of their last effort, Challengers. But Together isn't exactly the full-on funfest some fans are craving, either. Principal songwriters Newman and Destroyer's Dan Bejar have seemingly used the groundwork set by Challengers to establish a new parameter for the band's sound. And, to be fair, given how well it works for Destroyer (not to mention Newman's solo work and his underrated past band, Zumpano), why not?
The extra guitar guts of "Your Hands (Together)", Bejar's kookily hooky "Silver Jenny Dollar", and the marvelously brassy chorus of the Neko Case-sung "Crash Years" are ample proof of the enduring appeal of the group. True, their records don't quite leap from the stereo in the same way that their first three did, but there's really no reason for tears. The New Pornographers remain an exceptional pop band who just slowed things down a touch. It's still a damn fun party.