The New Pornographers - Challengers - Anticipation begins...now!

Been listening to this track for a few days, and it's pleasant enough, but the guitar is a little soft around the edges. It's all so relaxed. Kinda like the they recorded this while lounging around the pool. And I don't know what to make of the Mr. Roboto singing at the end.

I still think they're one of the best groups out there right now, and I still have high hopes for "Challengers", regardless of the cover art.

Compared to the first singles from the past two, Laws Have Changed and Twin Cinema, this is definitely a bit of a letdown. I just hope they let Neko sing some fast ones this time out.

the song itself is nice, but the production...one would expect better.
allmusic gave all new pornographers,zumpano and the solo newman lp 4.5 stars. i hope this one will continiue that tradition (plus i wish newman will release another solo lp soon,as he said he might do in pitchfork, cause "slow wonder" is his best stuff ever i think)

01 My Rights Versus Yours
02 All the Old Showstoppers
03 Challengers
04 Myriad Harbour
05 All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth
06 Failsafe
07 Unguided
08 Entering White Cecilia
09 Go Places
10 Mutiny, I Promise You
11 Adventures in Solitude
12 The Spirit of Giving

"Failsafe" was a rare Newman solo track, that sounds like those slow,quiet,sad songs from "slow wonder", and the "spirit of giving" is a rare Bejar song, that stands to the same standards.
so,yes, it looks like Challengers gonna be more humble and sad,less power than pop.

Hm, well I liked Slow Wonder, so that's interesting. But I don't know, there's something about TNP which, while I think they're very good at what they do, makes me only able to take them in small doses. It's probably the lyrics, especially with Newman's songs. It's the kind of thing where it seems a little too apparent that he came up with a catchy tune and then just kind of tossed some words on top. I suppose they have the interesting line here and there, but something about the construction of the songs just puts me off sometimes.

I adore them, and can listen to them no more than a couple times a year; too much sugar's bad for the system. Their last album was their very best cuz they slowed down some.

Their last album was their very best cuz they slowed down some.

This new song continues that trend, no? I think it's pretty great, once it gets going, and I like how they're slowing down without losing the hooks and layered harmonies. In fact, the Newman/Case harmonies -- the band's greatest strength, to me -- is nicely displayed here.

as bejar and case have lost interest, so have i. i think carl newman should start releasing solo records and retire the new pornographers name.

I'm okay with Case just harmonizing (even though I think she's done a lot more, even on Twin Cinema).

I've never been a big fan of Bejar's songwriting contributions to The New Pornographers (they feel sort of half-baked to me in comparison to his Destroyer stuff), but I think his best two NP songs -- Streets Of Fire and Jackie, Dressed In Cobras -- were on Twin Cinema.

WHERE ARE ALL THE FANS OF DESTROYERS RUBIES TO PROP THIS RECORD

I can see the "under-produced" criticism, but I've played My Rights Versus Yours off the MySpace page a lot for several days (thanks for the tip, Zeno). If it's the first single from the new disc, I think it's way better than the first single from Twin Cinema (the title track), which I didn't think played to the band's strengths (hooks and harmonies).

Too many parantheticals there, but I'm too tired to correct them.

AC newman about the songs:

My Rights Versus Yours: "This is a stream of consciousness story-of-my-life type of song. 1st appearance of french horn on a New Ps album, and only 30 seconds into the album! Ends with a nod to Jeff Lynne with the vocoded vocals."

All The Old Showstoppers: "This one has the string breaks that are a direct nod to Roy Wood's brilliantly primitive string work with The Move."

Challengers: "This one has a fairly convoluted subtext. At its surface it's a love song about finding new love out of nowhere and trying to play it cool, do the right thing. My version of '24 Hours To Tulsa'. When I wrote the lyrics I thought of the Camus quote from the liner notes to a Scott Walker album: 'A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to discover through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.'"

Myriad Harbour: "Dan's New York song. When I got the demo from him, I thought he purposely wrote a New York song because I had just moved to NY. Probably not, though. In this song, Dan urges me to 'look up for once and see just how the sun sets in the sky.' Two songs later, I sing that 'there is something unguided in the sky tonight.' Coincidence?"

All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth: "I really liked the title. I thought it was very long and pretentious, not befitting a 3-minute rock song. This song is pretty much our take on an early Roxy Music/Sparks pastiche, with a little Shocking Blue thrown in. A sort of throwback to early New Ps."

Unguided: "My first true epic at over 6:30 in length. This is MY New York song, though no one can tell. It is all about August 2005, everything up in the air, it was very hot, and I was camping out in NY for a week. The big bridge at the end, 'why wait for the weakened state to lie next to the weaker sex?', has nothing to do with the rest of the song, just a good line/universal truth. Kathryn is embarrassed that she had to sing it, yet only she could nail it the way it had to be nailed."

Failsafe: "This is the first Kathryn lead vocal. I liked the idea of using a tremelo guitar to propel the song, where that becomes the beat as much as the drums."

Entering White Cecilia: "I believe Dan is singing about entering a girl named Cecilia, who is either white or dressed in white, or both. Like all of Dan's work, it is overtly sexual."

Go Places: "This is my version of 'Maybe I'm Amazed' crossed with 'She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune', at least in my head that's what I hear. I know it's still oblique, but to me it is a straight up love song. Bonus points to rock critics who can name two versions of 'She Sang Hymns'. Without Googling."

Mutiny, I Promise You: " I think this has the most Bacharach/Webb/Wilson in it, in terms of structure and time signature, all the added half-bars in the progression. We rocked it up quite a bit, but slowed down and with a few other changes, it could go on a 5th Dimension album. That's hubris, I know. The organ sound reminds me of the organ on 'Ambition' by Subway Sect, which I think is a good thing."

Adventures In Solitude: "This is a sad song, but filled with a kind of hope. Basically a double lead shared by Carl and Kathryn. With its strings, harp, banjo, and mandolin, it officially counts as a 'musical departure'."

The Spirit Of Giving: "This is a sad Dan song with less hope and more nonsequiturs. Or maybe it's a happy song?"

plus whoever but the album now through "matador" can listen to the whole album streams and get lots of bonus stuff..

http://www.buyearlygetnow.com/promo.php

Are there no Neko lead vocals?

can't tell

OK, I got it. Neko sings lead on the title track, Go Places and Mutiny, I Promise You. (I think. I can't tell Neko and Kathryn apart, it seems). Anyway. The former is good, the latter two excellent. Bejar's songs are great, Myriad Harbour in particular, and the Spirit Of Giving cover works really well (I was expecting it to suck).

There's one very weak song on the album (All The Things...). My Rights Versus Yours is maybe the best thing on it, I'd say, although the Carl/Kathryn duet (Adventures in Solitude) and Mutiny, I Promise You run it close.

Critical response will be lukewarm at best; this isn't a record to thrill music critics. It's short on Twin Cinema's tricksiness, nowhere near as undeniably brilliant as MR or EV, and it doesn't really have a stand out track. I'm sure someone will be along in this thread to tell you the album's shit, for pretty much those exact reasons.

They're wrong. It's less showy, less clever-time-signature, less irritatingly-tricksy-but-nonetheless-brilliant than previous albums, but those aren't *proper* criticisms; slating Challengers for not being Mass Romantic is stupid. On it's own terms, it's a damn good album.

Should have been better, though.

i.e. it's shit and you're just not ready to admit it?

My fave of the year so far. IMO the worst track is "All the Old Showstoppers", although it has neat harmonies.

"Adventures in Solitude", "Unguided", "Myriad Harbour", "My Rights Vs Yours", "Go Places", all great.

Also, I think at least in the context of the New Pornos at this point, Kathryn > Neko.

"i.e. it's shit and you're just not ready to admit it?"

I've given that possibility some thought, but I'm not convinced. If some bunch of unknown randoms released an album like this, I'd be stunned by it. There's a huge difference between an album failing to meet my absurdly high expectations, and an album being shit.

WTF I hate this.

the vocals sound restrained, the whole think sound like they don't have much motivation on doing it.like a b-sided lazy record.unless it's a grower (and i hope it's a grower) - it's the 1st dissapointment by the NP's.
...like the 4th record by Pavement...(is it the end?!)

You mean 5th record by Pavement.

yeah...

after sone digging into this i'd say this:
interesting, probably not totally successfull, but still some great tracks ("showstoppers", "solitude", "challengers", and Bejar's tracks).
this album is actually the first attempt by Newman to write folk songs (as oppose to rock and pop as he did in the past) for the most of the record.
that's why it seems that the Destroyer tracks fit more well than previous records.

the production tend to be more subtle for most parts - kinda Buckingham meets early Eno stuff, an extension of the ideas in tracks like "falling through your cloths" and "this are the fables" from "twin cinema".sometimes it works,sometimes it's not ("fallsafe").

it's a grower.

The "kinda Buckingham . . . " production is intriguing. The New Pornographers have a great, if slightly poppier, Fleetwood Mac-like album in them.

The New Pornographers have a great, if slightly poppier, Fleetwood Mac-like album in them.

Huh? Slightly poppier? Slightly poppier? Slightly poppier than Fleetwood Mac? None of that computes, exactly.

"If some bunch of unknown randoms released an album like this, I'd be stunned by it. There's a huge difference between an album failing to meet my absurdly high expectations, and an album being shit."

OTM

"If some bunch of unknown randoms released an album like this, I'd be stunned by it. There's a huge difference between an album failing to meet my absurdly high expectations, and an album being shit."

OTM

as i read it, this is actually a woeful commentary on the state of indie rock in general lately.

Not the state of indie rock, more like the fact of indie rock.

I'm kinda resigned to modern indie rock being rubbish. I live in London, we're well used to it over here.

Just to repeat what Zeno says - it's a grower. You *won't* like it the first time you hear it, I promise you. I didn't. In fact, I was mortified.

nothing which is (closed to) perfect last forever

"I'm kinda resigned to modern indie rock being rubbish.I live in London, we're well used to it over here."

looks different in the states

..also,get this,there are MORE songs to come (says Carl)...:

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/?p=690

Huh? Slightly poppier? Slightly poppier? Slightly poppier than Fleetwood Mac? None of that computes, exactly.

Okay, well, maybe much poppier than Fleetwood Mac. But Fleetwood Mac had plenty of pop to their sound (at least with respect to a number of their singles toward the band's mid-to-late period).

This record is gorgeous. I love how much space everthing has - it's like the opposite of the ultra-compressed "Twin Cinema."

Silent Systems: This one was troubling me as a demo but then we decided that we should give it a Fleetwood Mac "Second Hand News" feel, and it fell together nicely.

-- Carl Newman, on a song from the "Executive Edition" of Challengers

Like I said, Fleetwood Mac. This sounds ideal to me.

"myriad harbour" is great but would be greater with a bit more of a loose Spoon-like bassline. remix plzzzzz

the viloins+drums hook in "all the showstoppers" is superb.
i can't get this song out of my head.

violins

Challengers and Adventures in Solitude are great. So much more relaxed than the songs on Twin Cinema, but without losing the hooks.

songs 1-5 and 10-12 would make a perfect NP record,
but i fear that some people will just get tired of their style on this record.they are wrong.it's great, )and "myriad harbour" is one of the best destroyer tracks ever.)
the departure is sound and songwritingis not always intersting,but still,it's great and one of 2007 best.

songs 1-5 and 10-12 would make a perfect NP record

I'd add Song No. 6 (Failsafe) to that list. That would make 9 top-shelf songs on Challengers. That compares favorably to Twin Cinema for me, which is one of my favorite discs of the decade so far. I thought Twin Cinema had 9 top-shelf songs on it (Twin Cinema, Bones of an Idol, Use It, Bleeding Heart Show, Jackie, These Are The Fables, Sing Me Spanish Techno, Streets of Fire and Stacked Crooked). Put differently, I thought there was some sub-par songs on Twin Cinema (generic indie-rock, e.g., Broken Breads, Three or Four, Star Bodies) but that barely diminished the disc for me. How many discs these days have more top-notch songs than those on Challengers and Twin Cinema?

And the other songs on Challengers -- especially Unguided (Song No. 7) and Go Places (Song No. 9) -- are growing on me.

"I'd add Song No. 6 (Failsafe"

mmm...i think it's the weakest on the record.
the original Newman version is much better and sad,this one leaves me apathetic

Where is the Newman version available?

it's kinda "rare" from a radio session he made,where you can also find a good version of a tall dwarvs songs "all my hollowness to you".
try to google it, i think it streams on the net somewhere.

I like that song Challangers. Catchy.

if it wasnt for daniel or myself, i wonder if this thread would even start eventually...

"I like that song Challangers. Catchy."

one of the best on the record.in trerms of a different style for Newman and the pornos - it's the masterpiece,and Neko sings so awsome.

yep

what exactly did GaGa do for Spoon?

I saw the free show in NYC on 7/4 with Neko (no Bejar) and it was pretty fresh and great (I only know Mass Romantic and "The Laws Have Changed").

I bought the Exec. Edition, so I've been able to stream the full disc for about a month now. Hence the "played out" feeling.

But you're right in another way. All music -- even my favorite stuff -- gets "played out" faster with me now than when I was a kid. I attribute it to the sheer volume of new music that's easily available today. I want to move on to the next thing way too fast now. But, FWIW, TNP are one of the few bands whose discs I keep returning to year after year.

what exactly did GaGa do for Spoon?

Top 10 disc on Billboard in its first week of release.

?! We saw a completely different tour, Brassiere.

srsly - LA show was grebt

I can't wait for this thread to erupt in response to the P4K review. I esp. liked Mitchum's dig on Electric Version.

I can't wait for this thread to erupt in response to the P4K review.

Sadly, I don't think it will. The Stylus review (B-) managed to suggest, in a single sentence, that liking Challengers, Sky Blue Sky and Wincing The Night Away -- all discs I'm very fond of -- is a sure sign that you're old and "un-hip."

Isn't that a good thing?

Yeah. Yeah, I think it is.

i loved mitchum's review because it really put NPs career trajectory in perspective and i liked his re-evaluation of electric version. wish he would've dug into twin cinema more too, but that was okay.

I don't doubt that any reviewer's critique genuinely reflects what he or she feels about a disc. But it sure seems to me -- from the (generally disappointing) reviews of Challengers I've seen so far -- that TNP are being pilloried for not sounding the way people expect them to. That's a shame, since I think, judged on their own merits (not against expectations of the way TNP should sound) the songs on Challengers stand up nicely next to the band's best work.

But it sure seems to me -- from the (generally disappointing) reviews of Challengers I've seen so far -- that TNP are being pilloried for not sounding the way people expect them to

But isn't this where criticism begins?

I wish I liked Challengers more than Twin Cinema, but this was always a band for whom the temptation to overrate was pretty strong. I liked Cohen's line about TNP's keeping secrets from themselves; it also summarizes my feelings for Spoon generally.

Yeah, that's fair. But that isn't where criticism ends, and I sense that's what is happening to some degree.

I like the line about "keeping secrets from themselves," too. It's lyrical, but I'm not entirely sure what it means (my lack of understanding being more a comment on my muddled mind, perhaps).

this was always a band for whom the temptation to overrate was pretty strong.

That's an interesting thought. FWIW, I came to the band with no knowledge of the members' pedegrees and, therefore, no expectations. I was just floored by some of Electric Vision, and it made me seek out more from the band and their other projects. I assume many other people found TNP that way, too.

Just fucking great. These guys and Animal Collective are playing on the same night in San Francisco. I was gonna see AC, but now....

They're playing the same night in Seattle as well, but there's a second New Pornographers show the next night. So I'm seeing Animal Collective on Friday, NP on Saturday.

Does anyone know if the "supercharged" tour thing above is still in effect?

Sadly, I think they peaked with Twin Cinema.

the first two NP albums were great. after that it was diminishing returns, imo. "entering white cecilia" is the only track on this that's really doing it for me (altho I am much more of a destroyer fan than NPs fan so take that for what it's worth)

Regarding the Stylus review: Whenever I read a review and come across something like this -

"Challengers is their first LP that feels like a realization of an artistic arc of sorts and sounds as if it’ll be listed next to the likes of Wincing the Night Away, Sky Blue Sky, and Easy Tiger in iPods of people you used to think were way cooler back when those artists released their early 21st-century masterstrokes."

- I quit fucking reading. It's reactionary posturing, and it's hack-y bullshit. I thought it was only high schoolers who were supposed to dislike something because certain people do like it. Mitchum pulled the same thing in his Wilco review.

They peaked with Twin Cinema? It's a little early for dire pronouncements.

So odd, to me, since I think Challengers is great. Yes, it's slower than Twin Cinema. But so was Newman's The Slow Wonder, and that got great reviews. And the hooks on Challengers are so much better than the hooks on The Slow Wonder (as good as that disc was).

disappointed people! time for a zumpano reunion then

A.C. Newman got married, and he now lives in nyc apart from (most of) the rest of the band who still live is vancouver.
this "technical details" are a big reason why Chellengers is their weakest album yet.

Regarding the Stylus review: Whenever I read a review and come across something like this -

"Challengers is their first LP that feels like a realization of an artistic arc of sorts and sounds as if it’ll be listed next to the likes of Wincing the Night Away, Sky Blue Sky, and Easy Tiger in iPods of people you used to think were way cooler back when those artists released their early 21st-century masterstrokes."

- I quit fucking reading. It's reactionary posturing, and it's hack-y bullshit. I thought it was only high schoolers who were supposed to dislike something because certain people do like it. Mitchum pulled the same thing in his Wilco review.

-- jposnan, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1:30 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Link

the only problem is, the next line is this: Now, you’d have to be a pretty irredeemable asshole to dismiss Challengers based on the fact that repping New Pornographers doesn’t score you as many style points as it used to.

@ Jordan:

What are we disputing here, the fact that I stick to my principles, or the fact that I'm unscrupulous?

that your point doesn't hold w/r/t this specific review because in the next line he says basically what you said, i.e. your an immature douche if you dismiss something because other people might not like it.

and anyway, i think he has a point positioning Challengers next to those three albums, reactionary or not.

Do you like those other three albums though, Sargent?

From what you post in other threads I'd guess you do. I must say i rilly like sky blue sky, the other three are very so-so.

I watched NPs do that first song (i think) on Letterman last night. It was pretty tepid stuff..but it was on Letterman I suppose.

Is that dude funny or not? I can't tell, I'm an Australian.

time for a zumpano reunion then

Jason Zumpano's latest solo album came out this month, recorded just around the corner from where I'm sitting right now. Nothing like the NPs or Zumpano though - it's a slighly archaic sounding piano album, nicely packaged as a desirable arifact and only costs a fiver I think.

the 4 bonus tracks are pretty and good.surprising, considering the fact that most bonus track on most records are between mediocre and shit.

The bonus tracks from the "Executive Edition"? I was hoping they'd pop up on blogs since I live overseas and couldn't negotiate the weird int'l-loophole-ordering thing, but Matador's been really good about shutting down anyone posting them (which I don't blame them for, I was just wishing I could sneak in there first and grab the tunes).

Anyway, could you describe the songs? Are they all Carl Newman-sung?

they are all newman-sung (with backing vocals from kathrine)- "fugue state" and "fortune" are great,mellow songs,resembles the atmosphere of "challengers" (the song)"silent systems" and "the speed of luxury" not so great,imo.

I hope they turn up on some EP somewhere down the line or something. I finally tracked down "Turn," the Japanese bonus track from "Twin Cinema," and it is very much in the "Challengers" mold.

I also bought some song on iTunes that's the NPs covering some Canadian legend that I had never heard of for some tribute album - Karazma, or someone? The song's called "Father and Son." It's fun. Their b-sides are usually a good time.

theres also a Destroyer cover in that Karazma album,which is better than the pornos cover.
the original record is pure nonsense btw.
oh, and the bonus tracks from challengers are leaked.

As a torrent or something? Or on mp3 blogs? I'm happy to buy them, I just couldn't deal with the "Buy Early Get Now" thing internationally. There, conscience cleared. Off to find them.

The opening two paragraphs are totally OTM

hey, thanks for noticing! i wrote that. yeah, it always seems odd to me when there's a big uproar about a band not totally repeating itself ... and the collective yawn when a band does repeat itself. I don't think Challengers is going to be anybody's favorite NPs album, but if you like the band, it's worth your time for sure. And jeez, it's not even a super-big departure to my ears. just some different approaches, that's all. but those newer songs did make for a more varied and interesting show. also, not mentioned in the review, but the superchunk fill-in drummer they've got touring with them for this tour was killer.

theres also a Destroyer cover in that Karazma album,which is better than the pornos cover. the original record is pure nonsense btw.

Yes but in a good way, no? The NPs track on Karazma Reimagined is a great summary of everything that is dislikable about them: mind-numbingly unimaginative pop-rock by numbers. It's quite easily one of of the most boring songs on the album. Best songs are the Bobby Conn number, the Spitfires/Nasty On version of Bubblebath and the Zero Squared take on "Bells of Sex".

I'm honestly not being self-conciously reactionary or anything but Canned Hamm piss all over the NPs IMHO.

I don't think Challengers is going to be anybody's favorite NPs album

When it first came out, I actually said I preferred it to Twin Cinema, but I've changed my mind. I get the criticism now. The composition of the songs is very strong, but the execution of the songs is -- by comparison to TNP's earlier discs -- too muted and flat. Still, cut-for-cut, I think Challengers has as many top-notch songs as any prior TNP disc.

Challengers has been a serious grower for me. At first I thought it was a total mess, and while I still kind of think that it's a brave and forward-thinking mess. I never bought into the whole "New Porns are just a fun, hyper, pop band anyway"--their stuff always had a ton more depth than some E6 bands or whoever else valued sugary hooks above all.

Am I reading correctly that Kurt Dahle is not on this tour??

their stuff always had a ton more depth than some E6 bands or whoever else valued sugary hooks above all.

Yeah, this is true. And I caught that comment about the new drummer, too. That would be too bad. Dahle is great (and underused on Challengers, I thought, compared to his role on Twin Cinema).

I love this album. It took me 2 or 3 listens to "get" it, but once I did, the hooks and melodies seemed so obvious that I'm amazed I didn't notice them sooner.

Yea! Challengers is definitely due for a critical reassessment. I'm glad to see some more people here praising it.

yeah, kurt dahle is taking the tour off (just became a father or something). But Wurster ably filled his shoes -- looked like he was having fun doing it too!

kurt dahle is taking the tour off

I'm not sure I'd call it the real "supercharged" NP lineup without him.

Not to beat a dead horse too badly, but I'm glad to see the critical reassessment of this disc continue:

My initial reaction to Challengers was something a little bit like [the negative Pitchfork review], but within a couple weeks and over the course of the past few months, my estimation of the record has grown considerably. I'm not ever going to love it as much as their first three albums, but I don't think that was ever going to be an option given that the songs on those records are inextricably tied to a lot of happy memories and key moments from the past seven years of my life. I can't expect that group to be frozen in amber, stuck in that moment for me, and if they don't change, I don't think I would have as much use for them beyond nostalgia.

A crucial realization that I had while watching them play last night was that the songs I got the most out of were new favorites like "Myriad Harbor," "All The Old Showstoppers," and "Adventures In Solitude," and not as much the oldies burdened with my sentimental baggage -- "The Laws Have Changed," "Sing Me Spanish Techno," "Twin Cinema," "Letter From An Occupant." Don't get me wrong, I loved the hell out of them, but it more like muscle memory than a direct emotional response. Dan Bejar singing "all I ever wanted help with WAS YOU!" in "Myriad Harbor" and Kathryn Calder's lead vocal on the second half of "Adventures In Solitude" moves me in the 2007s the way "I refused my call, pushing my lazy sails into the blue flame" hit me in 2005, and "form a line to the throne!" was something worth shouting in 2003.

(It's worth noting that just as on Challengers, Bejar and Calder totally stole this show from Carl and Neko. As they become more confident and distinct, the overall quality of the band improves. At this point in time, I think Calder nearly rivals Case as a vocalist, and she's still so young!)

I think that first freak-out moment upon hearing Challengers had little to do with the music, and everything with the perception of what the band, and Carl Newman in particular, seemed to be doing. For one thing, there was a worry that they'd moved away from something they did better than any of their contemporaries -- bombastic super-charged pop rock -- in favor of something softer and limper in an attempt to chase the commercial success enjoyed by the Shins. Also, there was a sense of "oh no, they are trying to be mature!," which often doesn't work out for people, mainly because they, well, aren't actually mature songwriters.

The reality of Challengers is that band actually can pull this stuff off, and it's a fairly organic progression from what they were doing on Twin Cinema. I think that Newman certainly has some healthy ambition and a desire to sell some records, but I think this is sincere music that flows naturally from his current taste and personal life, not to mention the considerable skill level of his band. The music isn't even all that different from what came before it -- even the gentlest, prettiest numbers hit dramatic crescendos, and the group's knack for harmony is never wasted.

Dan Bejar singing "all I ever wanted help with WAS YOU!" in "Myriad Harbor" and Kathryn Calder's lead vocal on the second half of "Adventures In Solitude" moves me in the 2007s the way "I refused my call, pushing my lazy sails into the blue flame" hit me in 2005, and "form a line to the throne!" was something worth shouting in 2003.

Nostalgia does not get any more decadent, self-indulgent and navel-gazing! "Adventures In Solitude" is inexpressibly sublime, though. Probably Newman's best song to date.

I think Dan Bejar's songs are the weakest songs on this albums, and the ones that I'd usually skip.

That Bejar line pretty much saves "Myriad Harbour" on its own, but the line worth remembering on Challengers is Kathryn singing "Why wait for the weakened state to lie next to the weaker sex." In other words, Fluxblog reasonably OTM about Bejar and Calder.

Fluxblog not OTM, though Calder sings exceptionally beautifully on "Adventures In Solitude", and Immaculate Machine's "Jarhand" is a rather nifty number. In general, I find Newman's songs stronger and more melodically sophisticated than Bejar's - "Jackie Dressed In Cobras" being a towering, shimmering, quivering exception. "The Spirit of Giving" is pretty good though, especially that "your turn to go down now" hook. I'd say Fluxblog person is having a wild nostalgic reverie about it now as I type.

Fluxblog at least OTM with regard to the live show. My Calder-crush may also be in play here.

"Go Places" is just wonderful.

it's a nice enough listen but by god their songs seem to get less memorable with each release