The New Pornographers show on Sept. 18 will be at the House of Blues. Looks like the whole gang will be there, including Neko Case and even Dan Bejar, who actually toured with them for the first time after the release of their last, fantastic, album, "Twin Cinema." Tix on sale June 16.
Most indie fans know that Neko is also an alt-country soloist and that Bejar has his own solo career as Destroyer. Many even know about frontman Carl Newman's first power-pop group, Zupano. The music site Culture Bully traces the Pornographers' roots even deeper.
Also, the band posted the first song from its upcoming album, "Challengers."
The album is out in August and this appears to be the album artwork. You can't really see it in the photo, but "NEKO" is tattooed on the guy's knuckles, which is a cool touch, but otherwise this cover is a mess. I'm a fan of their past DIY-style, understated album covers, so maybe it's just not my thing, but we DEFINITELY don't need to add another silly 70s mustache to the indie-rock lexicon.
The Casbah's Web site, under the "shows outside the Casbah" section, says The New Pornographers will return to San Diego on Sept. 18. It lists all the members, including Neko Case and recluse sometimes-member/cult hero Dan Bejar and says tix go on sale June 16.
But it doesn't say where the thing will be held. It feels like it will be at the Belly Up in Solana Beach based on the price and the fact that the Pornos played there on their last two tours.
The band's last album, "Twin Cinema," remains my favorite record of 2005 (suck it, Sufjan Stevens). It's highly recommended if you're into power pop at all. Their new album is set to come out later this summer.
Also ... the show by girl-group throwback The Pipettes on June 10 is now officially the 94.9 Indie Jam afterparty, and Smoosh -- two tween sisters from the Northwest who aren't just good for tweens but just plain good -- has been added to the bill.
A while back I did a Cashing In post on the New Pornographers' "The Bleeding Heart Show" being used in a commercial for the University of Phoenix. In an interview today with Pitchfork, frontman Carl Newman talks about how the deal went down:
Pitchfork: I saw an ad for one of those quasi-legit universities, the University of Phoenix, and it happened to have a song of yours in the background.
Carl Newman: Yeah, I know. It's weird, isn't it?
Pitchfork: What's the deal with that?
Carl Newman: It's one of those things that just, you get a call, and somebody said "hey, the University of Phoenix wants to use the end of "Bleeding Heart Show" in a commercial." And I thought, "eh, fair enough." And I really honestly didn't know that University of Phoenix was a huge online university. I actually thought it was, like, the University of Phoenix; like, every city has its big university, you know? And I thought, "oh, it'll show in the Southwest." It seemed kind of odd to me, like, I've never heard of a university having a TV commercial, but I thought, oh well. All of a sudden, people started saying "I saw your commercial during 'Saturday Night Live'" or "I saw your commercial during 'American Idol'," and I thought, "what the hell is up with that?" Then I began to realize that, well, I guess we inadvertently signed up to be in a big commercial. How about that?
Pitchfork: Does it seem odd to be connected with a sketchy university?
Carl Newman: You know, if University of Phoenix is some kind of scam, then I suppose I'd feel kind of stupid for being a part of it, but you know, I can't really say that I have much of an opinion, you know? It's a university, or a school, and it might be a crappy school, but it seems like letting a crappy school use your song is probably better than letting the best business use your song. I'm not overly political, but if Wal-Mart wanted to use the song, I would just go, "fuck off, no chance in hell." But for a lot of other things, I'm not so precious about our music. A lot of work went into it-- you record your song and you mix it and you put it out and it's there in the world, and as for the rest of it, I can't really stop people from doing with it what they want. Songs always mean the same thing to me regardless of whether they're in a commercial or playing in the background on "The Office" or whatever. I don't really have any... I'm kind of shocked that I have to talk about it.
One thing that made me feel better was, right around the time that commercial started showing up, there was also the Outback Steakhouse commercial with Of Montreal in it. And I thought, "thank God, that's really going to deflect some attention away from us." At least we didn't give our song to Outback. Now I'm afraid if I accidentally say something about the University of Phoenix that a hammer is going to come down on my head, or I'll find myself in a lawsuit. My official stance is, "I fully support the University of Phoenix," but to back that, I honestly didn't know what it was. But then again, if I did know what it was, I'm not sure that I would have said no. We're just trying to get by in this world. When you play music for so long and don't make any money, and people start offering you money for things that involve no effort on your part, you start going, "I'll do that." Pitchfork interview with Carl Newman Cashing In: The New Pornographers
I put the New Pornographers' "Twin Cinema" at No. 3 on my favorite albums of 2005, behind Bloc Party and Wolf Parade. Now that some time has passed, I actually give the Pornos in the top spot. (Wolf Parade is still at No. 2, followed by Clipse, then it's just a pile-up of about five or six albums for those last spots.)
So it took about a millisecond for me to look up when I heard the hey-la hey-la's of "The Bleeding Heart Show" coming from my TV. The track isn't only one of the best on the album; it shows that the band can push beyond it's power-pop roots and sets the stage nicely for their next album, which should be out sometime this year.
The song, taut and hopeful with Neko belting out "We have arrived," fits in just about any commercial. So who had the sense to put it in an ad?
Yup. The University of Phoenix — the ultimate commuter college. San Diegans know they got away with rubbing out Mircoskills (speaking of noteworthy commercials!) but they must be taking heat from a New York Times cover story earlier this month. On the school's Web page, right under the phone number, is a link to a whole section refuting the story, "Troubles Grow for a University Built on Profits."
Anyway, "Twin Cinema" obviously gets the highest Baby Heisman recommendation. It's a can't-miss used-bin pickup, or on one of those days when you just want a new CD. The New Pornographers — The Bleeding Heart Show (MP3)
AND FROM THE VAULT: The video for "Twin Cinema" single "Use It," which came out in those six months where comedian David Cross was in EVERYTHING, yet we didn't mind. I still don't know what "stock tips come next in the logic line" means, but it's a funny, entertaining video.
If I started a band, it would be called Cops In Shorts. If I were on a street ball team, my nickname would be Jigga Juice. If I rapped, my name would be Food Court
