The New Pornographers

Drawing members from local groups, The New Pornographers were formed on the west coast of Canada in 1997 with a line-up that has included singer-songwriter A.C. Newman, keyboard player Blaine Thurier, guitarist Dan Bejar, drummer Joe Seiders, bassist John Collins, guitarist Todd Fancey and singers Neko Case and Kathryn Calder. They have each gone off to work on solo projects or with other groups but have continued to produce albums and perform at events such as SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Praised for live performances of great energy and invention with attractive harmonies, the group's debut album 'Massive Romantic' was named Alternative Album of the Year at the 2001 Juno Awards in Canada. Their eponymous 2003 release 'Electric Version' inched onto the Billboard 200 and 'Twin Cinema' in 2005 made it to number 44 and was nominated for a Juno Award. 'Challengers' (2005) reached number ten on Billboard's Alternative Albums Chart and number 34 on the 200. 'Together' (2010) peaked at number three on the Alternative and the Canadian Albums Chart and went to number 18 on the 200.

'Bill Bruisers' (2014) proved to be their biggest hit so far as it topped Billboard's Alternative Albums Chart, reached number 13 on the 200 and 14 on the Canadian Chart. Their 2017 release 'Whiteout Conditions' hit number five on the Alternative Chart, number 35 on the 200 and number 82 on the Canadian Chart. In a review of their April 2017 show at the Theater at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, 'Billboard Magazine' said they were "a blizzard of pop wonder, answering the question of what you might get if you put ABBA, Kraftwerk, Belle & Sebastian, The Cars, The Beach Boys, Gary Numan and Fairport Convention in a blender and then sprinkled it with some Pixies dust".