In interviews, the New Pornographers have made known that they don't want to be called a supergroup. Sorry, bros, no dice. Putting aside that "supergroup" is a much easier term than "band made up of people from other notable bands," it also has certain connotations about the way a band operates that fits the New Porns snugly, from how they tour in various iterations depending on the schedules of the primary figures to how the albums have allotted space for each songwriter or singer (i.e. the Bejar-Triad Rule). Whether due to evil, lazy media folk like me or their own early press kits, the New Pornographers will never be seen as just a regular group, especially as the profile of Neko Case, Destroyer, and Carl Newman grows concurrent with the band's success.
But maybe the reluctance to accept the term is wise; after all, supergroups aren't known for their longevity. That's especially been a worry for the New Pornographers, whose first record, Mass Romantic, sounded like the giddy, breathless product of a few collaborative weekends snuck between other commitments, a brilliantly spontaneous all-star one-off. Those kinds of records are the hardest to replicate, and the band struggled to find its legs through the inconsistent and tentative Electric Version. It took 2005's Twin Cinema to confirm them as more than a side project, in part by successfully establishing a group identity beyond the three stars-- Kurt Dahle's drumming was as crucial as any vocal turn on the record.
You'd expect Challengers to build on that momentum, as the New Pornographers get used to touring without Case or Bejar and members like Dahle and Kathryn Calder continue to step up their game. But at the same time, the increasing "guest-star" status of Case/Bejar has made the Pornographers even more firmly Newman's show to run. Of course, Newman's always had his hands on the steering wheel, but Challengers asserts his dominance; with its mellow mood and baritone guitar obsession, it's more a sequel to his solo record The Slow Wonder than Twin Cinema.
That's not entirely a bad thing, as The Slow Wonder is like the great lost New Pornographers record. But the determination of Challengers to sound mature and not get too crazy is frustrating in the context of the Pornographers catalog. With its string sections and French horns and four different vocalists, it's on a larger scope than the intimate Wonder, and thus is less pleasant evening pop than widescreen midtempo power ballad territory. The Pornographers have dallied with this sound-- "The Bones of an Idol," for instance-- but only as contrast betwixt the power-pop sugar-highs. Now those up-beat moments are themselves the contrast, rather than the focus, and Challengers sags because of it.
Those first three songs set this agenda: "My Rights Versus Yours" resembling a Slow Wonder outtake with its chugging Pet Sounds baritone foundation and awkward refrain, the repetitive, teasingly flat "All the Old Showstoppers", and the title track, which squanders Case's pipes on a meandering ballad with no peaks. Even Bejar appears to have gotten the memo, as his "Myriad Harbour" contains plenty of characteristic vocal jokes-- intrusive, impatient backing singers, lyrics directed at fellow Pornographers-- but doesn't even touch the sprawl of his anthemic Rubies work.
Finally, 15 minutes in, the Pornographers deign to give us the throwback of "All of the Things that Go to Make Heaven and Earth", the first spike of genuine pop enthusiasm to cut through the ruminative fog. Yet it's only a brief flash, its energy quickly absorbed by Calder's uninspiring vocal debut "Failsafe," and the lumbering six-and-a-half minutes of "Unguided," as schmaltzy as the usually nonsensical Newman has ever gotten. Sadly, the album never recovers: there's another Neko-wasting tune ("Go Places"), two forgettable Bejar C-sides, and only one more track that attempts to recapture the old pep ("Mutiny, I Promise You").
But the problem isn't so much the pace of the record as the topography; Twin Cinema ballads like "Bleeding Heart Show" and "These Are the Fables" built to euphoric payoffs, while Challengers tracks end with uncharacteristic whimpers instead of bangs. Newman, as the undisputed leader at this point, has to take most of the blame, but it's possible to cite the other primaries as well, as Neko and Bejar show up just to go through the motions. Perhaps it's just impossible for a supergroup-- sorry, band made up of people in other notable bands-- to properly mature, but Challengers is the first to suggest that the spark of creative collaboration may be gone from the New Pornographers, and that settling into being just a regular band is more challenging than they might have thought.
