The Former Site Of by The New Pornographers
Released: March 27, 2026 on Merge Records
FFO: AM Pop, Indie Pop, Power Pop, The Shins, Belle & Sebastian, Big Star, The Zombies, The Beach Boys, The Cars
Your first song: Great Princess Story
♫ Support: Bandcamp
The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band that I’ve been following since the release of their debut, Mass Romantic in 2000. I’ve also been a big fan of Carl (AC) Newman since receiving a promo copy of Zumpano’s (his previous band) second album on Sub Pop, Goin’ Through Changes for my college-era zine.
TNP is essentially an indie super group, with Newman, Neko Case (very much a star in her own right), John Collins from Destroyer, and many other amazing contributing musicians. Dan Bejar (frontman for Destroyer) was also in the band for many of their releases.
The Former Site Of is TNP’s 10th full length album, following the 2023 release of Continue as Guest. Much like Courtney Barnett’s discography, all ten albums are remarkably consistent and high quality. I may prefer albums like Mass Romantic or Electric Version or Twin Cinema, but albums like Continue as Guest and The Former Site Of are not far behind.
Favorite tracks:
- “Votive” - one of my favorite tracks from them in many years
- “Great Princess Story”
- “Bonus Mai Tais”
- “Wish You Could See Me I’m Killing It”