Chris DeLine

The few times I’ve had the chance to spin Challengers I’ve been left with a strange feeling of being underwhelmed. A while back I had this idea that “The New Pornographers are becoming indie rock’s version of adult contemporary” and I can’t say that my view has been swayed since. I don’t expect the group to act like different than they have in the past in terms of releasing new material, I’m not asking them to rawk out all the time or anything, but my favorite New Pornographers material is full of life, entirely vigorous and bouncy…this album lacks those kind of moments. Either way, the video for the title track is beautiful, even without a bouncy soundtrack.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]