It’s
getting increasingly hard to justify crossing ye olde London Town on a school
night, and the list of acts which I’d do that for is becoming increasingly
smaller. The New Pornographers, however, certainly still feature; barely 2 ½
years after 2014’s “Brill Bruisers”, they’re back with a new album, “Whiteout
Conditions”, which continues their journey towards a synthier and more
electronic framework upon which to base their splendidly crafted and
ingeniously arranged material. Interestingly, this is also the first to be
exclusively written by mainman Carl “AC” Newman, rather than with regular
contributors Neko Case and Dan Bejar chipping in, possibly explaining both the
lack of a solo AC Newman album in the intervening gap, as is this prolific
songwriter’s usual modus operandi, and also the relatively quick turnaround
between albums!
No
matter, I’m happy with a new New Pornographers album whenever and however it
arrives, and particularly if it’s accompanied by their usual whistle stop
London date. Rach didn’t fancy Camden on a Tuesday night, though, but Beef did,
so we headed off early and parked up in Shepherd’s Bush, tubing over to the
Electric Ballroom for 8pm. Quiet early doors, this one, and it was still
sparsely attended when support Creatures took the stage at 8.30. Not Siouxsie
and Budgie’s old side project, unsurprisingly, this was rather a 5-piece of
pseudo cowboy musicians bedecked in shoelace ties, waistcoats and Stetsons,
playing an approximation of some Quentin Tarantino spaghetti western soundtrack
tunes, and led by the bastard son of Benicio Del Toro, all tumbling of hair and
thick of sideburns and ‘tache, mincing unfortunately around the stage like
Larry Grayson. Probably shooting for a dustier desert version of The Killers
but falling way short, and if our friend the vocalist’s voice (particularly the
top-end range) were more quavery, it’d be in a yellow packet!
Anyway,
from the ridiculous to the sublime; our spot down the front, stage left, got
appreciably busier as the witching hour approached, and when The New
Pornographers took the stage at 9.30 to some rousing punk backing track,
anticipation was palpable. They didn’t disappoint; opener “High Ticket
Attractions” was a chugging rocker featuring a sublime triple vocal attack of
Newman, keyboardist Kathryn Calder and new tour member, backing vocalist Simi
Stone, all line astern at the front of the stage (with the guitarist, somewhat
prophetically given the prominence of the keyboards in the more recent
material, secreted away next to the hard-hitting drummer); “The Laws Have
Changed” kept the pace fast and frantic, and an excellent, unexpected “Twin
Cinema” completed an breathless opening triple salvo. Great start!
This
was a tremendous and startlingly hard-rocking performance from The New Pornographers,
with one powerful, strident blast of superbly hand-crafted alt/ powerpop
following another, with little respite until the plaintive, slow-burn acoustic
opening of “Adventures In Solitude”, 9 numbers in! Led by the initially
taciturn Newman (no Dan Bejar at all tonight, so none of his songs such as “War
On The East Coast” in the set), they charged through the set at a ferocious
pace, giving the impression of a prize-fighter trying to put his opponent away
early! Certainly the songs were all knockout punches; “Dancehall Domine” was a
colourful, funky strut, “Whiteout Conditions” a metronomic and cascading wordy
build-up to a soaring choral hook, easily the best of the new numbers on
display, and “World Of The Theater” featured some splendidly lilting vocals
from Calder. Newman eventually loosened up, complimenting London’s tourist
attractions before “Backstairs”, and, following the brilliant, beetle-crushing
boot stomp of set highlight “Sing Me Spanish Techno”, responded to the crowd’s
ovation with, “just [give us] a nod of approval – that’s all we want!”
Simi
Stone took an impressive lead vocal for the blaring synth of “Play Money”,
prompting a high five from Newman and a subsequent boast from the frontman
about beating his 5 year old at “high five, down low, too slow”, because, “his
brain’s not fully formed yet!” The subsequent “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” was
lovely, a joyous fairgroundesque reel, calling for, “specific handclaps!” from
Simi, and a galloping “Mass Romantic” closed out the set. The best, however,
was saved for last; a 4-song encore (featuring another go at “High Ticket
Attractions” as, “we screwed it up,” according to Newman) was topped with their
masterpiece, “The Bleeding Heart Show”, again sneaking in like a ghost in the
night, inveigling its’ way into one’s consciousness before building to a huge
and euphoric crescendo. Just the perfect way to close out a quite superb
performance. Set-list, merch, food at the Bush and a red-eyed, late arrival
home (1.20 am), but totally worth the effort!
No comments:
Post a Comment