Carl Newman is a happy man. Last month, his band the New Pornographers released its sixth album to almost universal praise. Brill Bruisers matches the band's muscular pop-rock with swirling synthesizers à la Electric Light Orchestra for a collection that sounds both immediate and ethereal — and certainly stands among the band's best work. Making the album required wrangling time with New Pornos members Neko Case and Dan Bejar of Destroyer, both of whom were way less famous when this project was conceived in 1999. Ahead of the band's 4:15 p.m. Sunday set at Treasure Island, we spoke with Newman about chasing bandmates around the U.S. and the time he kinda-sorta lived in San Francisco.
SF Weekly: What's it like reading reviews for an album you're so proud of?
A.C. Newman: I've been mad at reviews because I didn't think they were positive enough. When I read the Pitchfork review, I go, "No, this is bullshit, there's no way this record isn't Best New Music. This is fucking bullshit." That's been my response to reviews. And it's good. It feels empowering to have that sort of confidence in your record.
Were you surprised that Brill Bruisers became the No. 13 album in the whole country?
I felt very happy about it. The whole business has changed, because records are just selling less across the board. So it sold less in the first week than [previous album] Together did, but it went higher on the charts. Nobody's record is selling more than the last one. With that in mind, yeah, this record seems like it's doing amazingly well.
How did you envision the album at the very beginning?
I wanted it to be like us, but just a little more extreme. Whereas I think we [previously] dabbled in old synthesizer sounds, we wanted to go full-bore. Like, let's make it sound like [Electric Light Orchestra's] Xanadu — a very retro vision of electronic music.
Have you always been a fan of ELO, that kind of stuff?
From being a kid I loved it, and then when I started making music and I started listening to music in a different way, I realized how amazing it was. I think some people dismiss that music just because they think of it as AM pop music. But when I listen to it, I think, no, this is amazing. And the fact that Jeff Lynne is the go-to producer for Dylan and George Harrison and Tom Petty says a lot.
Who's the hardest member of the New Pornographers to get time with?
Definitely Neko. Not even any competition. Basically we had to chase Neko to get her on this record. She didn't come to us. She had a couple days off when she was in Austin for Austin City Limits and we said, "Okay, John [Collins, bassist/producer] and I, we're flying to Austin, we're going to do singing for a couple of days."
You're regarded as a master of pop songcraft. Are there certain elements a pop song has to have to work for you?
No, not really. There are things that I just go back to because it's just in my DNA. I just write a certain kind of song, and I don't write that because I think that's the way a song should be. That's just the way I write them. I love the people that stretch the idea of pop songs — like we just heard a couple of songs from Beck's Odelay when we were driving here, and I thought, this album really stretches what a pop song is. Or to a different degree, Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion. When I look at what I want to do, or when I look at what I've done, the stuff I like the most is where I'm making pop songs that don't sound like your average pop songs. People have always called me power-pop and it's always sort of bugged me, because I consider power-pop to be very bland.
Are you excited to play Treasure Island?
I'm excited to play it because I basically lived in San Francisco for about a year, because I was dating a girl there. And I remember driving over that bridge all the time. I think it'll be cool to play that place.
Where did you live in the city?
Like around the Western Division [sic]. Broderick and Eddy? I sort of lived there. I didn't officially, but I was there a lot ... like 2004 into the summer of 2005. I really liked San Francisco, and I'm glad I had that chance in my life to spend a lot of time there. It's like it was nice to be in such a classic city, and begin to feel like you're a local and you know the area.
What kind of set can we expect at Treasure Island?
Definitely heavy on the newer stuff, just because I'm really into all these new songs. It feels like we can play them all — we can play "Brill Bruisers" next to "Use It" or we can play "Born With a Sound" next to "Moves" and it doesn't feel like we're dragging people down with our new album. It all fits in very seamlessly. I just think it's a drag that we can't play that long at Treasure Island ... maybe 50 minutes. So I feel like we should get back there to San Francisco and do a proper ticketed gig.
What happened with Kurt Dahle, your longtime drummer, who suddenly left the band last month?
It's not that exciting. I think he just didn't really want to tour anymore, [was] sick of being in a band. The kind of thing that will happen after 15 years.
It was an amicable separation?
Yeah, I think so.
Do you ever get tired of the rock 'n' roll life?
Well, whenever I do I just stop doing it for a while. It's easy enough. Sometimes touring can be draining, but I always love writing songs. I always want to work on music. I think people might give up on me, but I think I'm always going to want to do it. I mean, the reason this band exists is essentially because I just kept going. I kept going even when there was no reason to think anybody wanted to hear it.
You made an acclaimed record [Mass Romantic] right out of the gate, and yet you thought people wouldn't want to hear more?
Lots of great records have been ignored. You can make a great record and be proud of it, but nobody gives a shit. Nobody gave a shit about the first two Big Star records. Nobody gave a shit about Mayo Thompson's Corky's Debt to His Father. The world is littered with amazing bands that get ignored. It would be hubris to think that we were the ones that were going to break out and become popular.
Treasure Island Continues to Provide: Other Festival Highlights
OutKast
See them now or live in regret forever. Andre 3000 has made it pretty clear that his heart isn't in this nostalgia reunion — or even in rap music anymore — so he'll probably never get back with Big Boi to perform some of Southern rap's most enduring songs after this tour ends. But watching OutKast live is still a revelation. With songs like "Roses," "Rosa Parks," and the immortal "Hey Ya," it's also a hell of a party. 9:05 p.m. Saturday on the Bridge Stage.
MØ
No, we don't know how to pronounce the name of Karen Marie Ørsted's solo project, but a little mystery is in order here. The Danish singer makes nighttime music, all smooth vocals and rumbling bass and negative space — like, it must be said, so many other acts these days. But where many of her contemporaries sing with an annoying meekness, Ørsted summons some of the vigor of classic R&B. She's happy to cultivate a little mystery, but she doesn't need anything to hide behind. 2:35 p.m. Saturday on the Bridge Stage.
Cathedrals
As the Treasure Island lineup makes abundantly clear, moody electronic pop groups are easy to come by. But this brand-new San Francisco duo appeared seemingly fully formed, ready to give outfits like Chvrches a run for their Pitchfork scores with spacious productions and piercing female vocals. Yeah, both members went to Stanford, and one of them runs a juice pop-up inside West of Pecos, but that makes them even more of the S.F.-in-2014 moment. Noon Sunday on the Bridge Stage.
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