Carl Newman and his New Pornographers opened their unlikely career on an impressive hot streak. Beginning with their debut Mass Romantic in 2000, their first three records made their way into the upper regions of the yearly Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, punctuated by a No. 7 finish for Electric Version in 2003. Their fourth record Challengers was issued in 2007 and was promptly met with the sort of critical backlash that sometimes seems reserved for bands with just such a sustained level of excellence.

"There was a little bit of a backlash, but it isn't that big of a deal," says Newman in a recent telephone interview. "It wasn't like anything that crushed us, you know? We weren't like the breakout band of 2007. We weren't like Feist or Spoon or even the National. So the strange thing is, we go on tour, and you can't tell that there's any sort of [critical] backlash. Our shows are bigger than they've ever been. I'd rather people disliked us for changing too much than disliking us for putting out the same record."

Challengers was a bit of a departure from the frenetic, tightly wound sound of the band's earlier records. Newman was known for cramming numerous hooks into his tracks, cramming them until they were ready to burst. Witness the swirl of songs like "Letter From an Occupant" from Mass Romantic or Electric Version's "The Laws Have Changed," wherein the push and pull between verse, chorus and bridge becomes like a caffeine and sugar overdose. Newman's best songs seemed to come from a somehow inexhaustible pool of hooks, each catchier than the last. For the band's latest record, Newman purposefully tried to scale things back a bit in an effort to not repeat himself.

"There have been songs that were [like that] to the extent that they almost turned into prog numbers," jokes Newman. "Like two or three minutes into the song, it would switch gears and become a completely different song. Sometimes I would go back and think, "That first part of the song was so good, maybe that should just be the basis of the song, maybe it should just stay like that until the end.' I think it's quite possible that I did do things like that on this record. A song like "Challengers,' although I have no objectivity, I think it's a very simple song. I wanted to have a song that was very quiet and clear, that didn't have a ton of parts, that had lyrics that were very straightforward."

"Simple" and "straightforward" are relative terms, of course, as Challengers still contains plenty of challenging moments. Newman's niece (and usual live replacement for oft-absent Neko Case) Kathryn Calder makes her NP recorded debut on the tremolo-laden "Failsafe," and the record also contains the first extended track on any of the band's records (the six-plus minutes of "Unguided"). Throughout, there are plenty of those trademarked moments that sound unmistakably like the New Pornographers.

"I know people always say that we're one of those bands where so much of our music sounds like something else, but they just can't place what it is," expounds Newman. "I think that's generally where I'm coming from when I'm writing songs. I'm definitely in debt to all the music that's come before us, and all the songwriters, but you're trying to do your own warped take on it. You're trying not to repeat them, but you're definitely following in those footsteps. I like it when people say that. It means I'm doing my job well."

For a band that had the appearance of a one-off "supergroup" upon its debut, it has been a surprising near-decade for Newman and the rest of the group. They have managed to balance the burgeoning careers of some of the band's members in an intriguing manner. Neko Case's profile is certainly larger now than it was in 2000, as her 2006 solo record, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, precipitated a string of sold-out tour dates for the powerhouse vocalist. The New Pornographers' "other" songwriter, Dan Bejar, has enjoyed steadily growing notoriety through primary outlet Destroyer (as well as enough other projects to suggest that the guy rarely sleeps). In retrospect, it is interesting to note that even Newman didn't foresee the New Pornographers past Mass Romantic.

"We didn't envision anything, we didn't even think of ourselves as a real band," explains Newman. "We had no intentions of making a second record, [but] the band took on a life of its own. I thought, "This is awesome. We should keep making records.'"

The band's records have always benefited from the inclusion of the aforementioned Bejar's songs, as they have added a sort of twisted whimsy throughout their career. Whether it is the Challengers standout "Myriad Harbour" or the punchy "Jackie" from Mass Romantic, these songs always seem to provide an interesting counterpoint to Newman's (and also sound considerably poppier than his work as Destroyer, but that could all be due to context). Newman considers Bejar's contributions to be valuable on several levels.

"I think when I'm writing my own songs, I'm always kind of self-conscious about them, like I always want to re-write them or change the words," he says. "Then I'll get these three demos from Dan and it feels like I've got this foundation now. It makes it so I can begin to see where the record is going."

The New Pornographers' latest tour features openers Okkervil River, a band which gained some well-deserved notice for its outstanding record The Stage Names last year. This continues Newman's desire to provide bang for the indie fan's buck, as they also served on an outstanding double bill with Belle & Sebastian in 2006.

"There are a lot of shows happening constantly," says Newman in explaining the decision to tour with Okkervil River. "Every town has a ton of bands coming through, so you want to make a show that's really, really great. Opening for Belle and Sebastian, that was awesome, and then having Okkervil open for us is an awesome show. If I saw that in the newspaper as a coming attraction, I'd go to that!"

Also in the works is Newman's second solo album, the long-awaited follow-up to The Slow Wonder from 2004 ("I don't know what it's going to be like," he claims). Whether or not he avoids the backlash solo or as a Pornographer, you can bet that Newman will still stand in service of the song.

"The songs that seem like they've always been there, ideally those are the songs you want to write. Like "Proud Mary.' "Proud Mary' doesn't seem like it was written by a man, you know? It just feels like it was part of American history. That's what you strive for. When you hear a really great song that has that quality, it doesn't sound like a bunch of chords thrown together with a bunch of words on top, it sounds like this thing that has always been there."

New Pornographers, Okkervil River
9 p.m. Tuesday, April 22
Beachland Ballroom
15711 Waterloo Rd.
216.383.1124
SOLD OUT