#30 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — The New Pornographers

In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers

By now you must have heard of the Canadian supergroup The New Pornographers. They’ve only ben around for some 22 years, and have released 8 albums in that time (not to mention the 25+ solo and other-group albums released over that same period by band members Carl Newman and Neko Case—and formerly Dan Bejar, from Destroyer—including some that have featured previously on the Top 31 in various forms). There’s not much more I can say about them that you haven’t heard from me before.

In the Morse Code of Brake Lights isn’t their best effort, but even their “just good not great” albums are better than most. Their 2017 album, Whiteout Conditions, didn’t make that year’s countdown, but their phenomenal 2014 album, Brill Bruisers, was at #18 that year. Neko Case is by far my favorite member of the band, and her last two solo albums have also been featured on the Top 31, at #17 in 2018, and #5 in 2013. Per usual, she features prominently on Morse Code.

“The Surprise Knock” is my favorite track on the album. The video above, for the song “Falling down the Stairs of Your Smile” is one of their less-dynamic songs, but the Neko-led chorus still kicks ass. Give the whole thing a listen—if you’ve liked the New Pornographers in the past, you’ll find the formula continues to work quite well on this album, too.

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31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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2009-2018 Top 31s

#22 on the 2015 Bacon Top 31

Savage Hills Ballroom by Youth Lagoon

The band at #22 is difficult to categorize. Experimental, psychedelic, dreamy — these words come close, but don’t seem to fit quite right. Youth Lagoon, the stage name of Trevor Powers, is from Boise, Idaho, but given his sound, you’d be forgiven if you’d guessed Brooklyn.

Playing with a mix of electronic and analog sounds (trumpet, piano, and cello all feature throughout), it’s Powers’ high, sometimes cracking falsetto that sets this music apart from others that came before. There’s a little Arcade Fire, a little Destroyer, even some Kishi Bashi in there if you tilt your head just right.

Savage Hills Ballroom is Youth Lagoon’s third album. I haven’t heard his previous albums, but from what I’ve read, it doesn’t sound like I need to. It appears this album is a good departure from his previous work. If you do end up going into his back catalog, or if you have heard it and have an opinion about it, do share, won’t you?

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23. Not Real by Stealing Sheep
24. Beat the Champ by The Mountain Goats
25. Gliss Riffer by Dan Deacon
26. Dark Bird is Home by The Tallest Man on Earth
27. Gunnera by Pfarmers
28. Swimmer to a Liquid Armchair by Ricked Wickey
29. To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
30. Live in Seattle by Moufang / Czamanski
31. High by Royal Headache

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Past years’ Top 31s

#18 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31

Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers

The band at #18 are Canadian, but don’t hold that against them:

A super-group built over time. That is what The New Pornographers are. Even though the Pornos formed after each of the band’s most prominent members (Neko Case, Dan Bejar — who also performs in Destroyer, and de facto band leader AC Newman) had released records under solo or alternative bands, their first joint album, 2000’s Mass Romantic, has been recognized as one of the most influential indie-rock albums of the past two decades.

That’s what I wrote when I posted the first video released from their phenomenal sixth record, Brill Bruisers. The album has proven to be one of my favorites, after having tried and failed to thoroughly enjoy their past three albums. Their 2010 album Together didn’t make the countdown that year, but Neko’s most recent solo album made it all the way up to #5 last year.

They’re all excellent musicians in their own right. Throw them together and magic happens on one or two songs per album, but rarely across the full length of a record like Brill Bruisers. This is something different, something special. I highly recommend it.

Side Note: I recently learned that my favorite New Pornographers song, “Letter From an Occupant” — the only single from their 2000 debut album Mass Romantic — gives sole songwriting credit to Neko Case. I had previously thought Newman was the driving force behind the band. Now, armed with this new information, my whole world has been shaken to its core. If I thought I could love Neko more…

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19. Only Run by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
20. Augustines by Augustines
21. El Pintor by Interpol
22. I Never Learn by Lykke Li
23. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
24. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
25. Voices by Phantogram
26. Morning Phase by Beck
27. Hungry Ghosts by OK Go
28. Run the Jewels 2 by Run the Jewels
29. Cosmos by Yellow Ostrich
30. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
31. With Light & With Love by Woods

2009-2013 Top 31s