Nebraska Strikes Again
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Where Pablo’s Triangle was “noisy and chaotic,” according to Focht, the new group (named for the uppermost section of the thighbone–supposedly the lowest point on Elvis’s body the Ed Sullivan Show cameramen were allowed to film, and thus, the band concluded, “the point where rock and roll becomes sex”) was going for a sound that reflected its members’ interest in the elaborate, meticulously structured pop of 60s groups like the Left Banke, the Zombies, and the Beach Boys. Armstrong, Focht, and Elsener all sing and play several instruments each, but as they recorded demos of the new songs, the arrangements they heard in their heads grew increasingly ambitious, and they started finding additional musicians to flesh things out.
“We’d get one person, and then we’d decide we’d need something else,” says Focht. “It just kept building.” Soon a whole crew, nearly all veterans of the same cluster of Nebraska bands, had come aboard to help, including Hischke, trumpeter Nate Walcott, drummer and keyboardist Jonathan Crawford (from Grey Ghost), and bassist Matt Silcock (formerly of Lullaby for the Working Class). “I was pretty against bringing in all of these people in the beginning,” Armstrong says. “I like the small-group setting so much, and even though I knew we were going to maintain the larger part of the creative control I was worried about things getting cluttered.”
Playing shows is complicated for a band with such an ornate sound, and the core members have relied on the generosity of their friends to field a full lineup every time out. “We’ve been really lucky,” Armstrong says. “They’re into it enough that they’re willing to make sacrifices as far as compensation at this point. But you can’t expect somebody like Nate, who can get wedding gigs that pay 300 bucks a night, to always come with us for two weeks and get 50 bucks and beer.” Luckily, the band now has enough connections in Chicago that when one of the regulars is unable to make it there’s always someone willing to step in. Head of Femur is currently booking a two-week tour for September. For Thursday’s performance a 17-piece version of the group will perform Ringodom or Proctor in its entirety.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Marty Perez.
