| HEAD OF FEMUR is the willfully weird orchestral pop brainchild of pop auteurs Mike Elsener and Matt Focht, formerly the drummer of Bright Eyes.
GREAT PLAINS, Head of Femur's newest, is the band's third chapter in the journey, which started on the brittle badlands of Nebraska, continuing in the urban jungle of Chicago, transforming the band from a wieldy pop collective into a tight-knit rock band. With GREAT PLAINS, Head of Femur sheds the excessive glory of past efforts and focuses on immediate melodies and whip-smart song structures to produce the band's best set of songs to date.
As much as it represents a major leap forward, GREAT PLAINS is also a return home: to Portland's Greyday Records, home of Head of Femur's 2003 critically-acclaimed debut album RINGODOM OR PROCTOR, which Billboard called "fresh, fun and original."
When that album became an immediate underground hit, receiving rave reviews by tastemaker's like Magnet, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and Pitchfork, Head of Femur hit the ground running, launching U.S. tours with Wilco, Bright Eyes, Dr. Dog and others, as well as releasing a sophomore album on SpinART, 2005's HYSTERICAL STARS.
Rapid recording sessions in the spring of 2006 resulted in LEADER AND THE FALCON, a 6-song EP self-released in the fall of 2007. According to Joe Tangari at Pitchfork, it's "a musical equivalent of what Dorothy might have felt like when first stepping out of her house into Oz."
Yet despite the raves, the EP turned out to be a swan song for Head of Femur's former self. As a massive pop collective known, at times, to include 20-plus musicians, Focht and Elsener wanted change. GREAT PLAINS is the ultimate turnaround, a stripped-down, dance-heavy record featuring Head of Femur's core players who reinvented their approach to songwriting while still staying true to their ambitions trademark sound.
Head of Femur formed in 2001 in Chicago after 3 of the 5 current members moved to the Chicago from Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. The current lineup includes lead singer and rhythm guitarist Matt Focht, lead guitarist and vocalist Mike Elsener, keyboardist Eathan Janney, drummer Colby Starck and the enigmatic-named bassist The Chancellor (the only band member who still lives in Nebraska.)
Lacing together art-rock sensibilities reflective of Talking Heads and the homegrown comfort of Neil Young and The Band, GREAT PLAINS follows lyrical snapshots from his home state, set to music that gives them flight. Rhythmically complex yet immediately catchy, Head of Femur faces a new year where change is good.
|
|
Media Coverage
[click link to preview or
right click & save LINK as or
Macs 'control click' save LINK as] |
