Album Reviews

The New Pornographers Album Review

By Brieann Kovalevsky | August 27, 2014

Brill Bruisers is the sixth studio album released by the band The New Pornographers. The first time I heard this band was almost ten years ago (what? has time really gone that fast?) when they released the album Twin Cinema and I adored it. The Canadian indie band formed in the late 90’s and released their first album in 2000. Made up of eight musicians, The New Pornographers play a variety of instruments and turn those sounds into a dance-able and lively type of music. Each member of the group also has solo careers as musicians including Dan Bejar of Destroyer, Neko Case, and Kurt Dahle of Limblifter.

The album starts off with the song Brill Bruisers. It’s loud and has the classic group vocals of The New Pornographers. I definitely had to nod my head to the music for it’s an exciting and upbeat beginning to a new album. I really liked Born With a Sound featuring Amber Webber. It started by sounding almost pop punk and I was surprised by the direction it was going. The vocals between Daniel Bejar and Amber Webber are magical and their voices really fit together. Amber Webber is a member of Black Mountain and Lightning Dust. But my winner for best start of a song is Hi-Rise starting with some pizzicato and strings, adding some wooden block, and space sounds?? It’s different and creative. If you haven’t listened to The New Pornographers before this would be a great album to even start off with. It’s perfect for the end of summer and something new for back to school.

Track Listing:

1. Brill Bruisers

2. Champions of Red Wine

3. Fantasy Fools

4. War On the East Coast

5. Backstairs

6. Marching Orders

7. Another Drug Deal of the Heart

8. Born With a Sound

9. Wide Eyes

10. Dancehall Domine

11. Spidyr