on-air introduction by Chance Solem-Pfeifer
I think when it comes to our guest tonight, some context, or perhaps our lack thereof, is important.
We played Churls for the first time on this program in February, a demo of a song called “People I Love.” You can hear the room with the hand drums coming back off the walls and one male baritone playing percussive, doo-wop backup to the voices of what sounds like three women leaping upward in the recording.
If you heard what we heard and tried to put it in the context of Nebraska music, you’d be excited too. It’s something that sounds like a Motown rhythm section leatherized by a long day on the beach with singers Emily and Lisa Lux grabbing on to a Pet Sounds sense of bounce. Not something you could find downtown every weekend. And then there’s the lyrics to “People I Love.” My best comparison at this point is It’s True. It’s beautiful, it feels personal and lest you get distracted by those two things, it bites with wit and a comic straightforwardness.
“You think I’m weird? Well, I think you’re weird.”
“I guess I thought you loved me because of all those times that you said you loved me.”
One Carly Simon allusion later … “You probably think this song is about you …” and then shout of “Well, it is!” and the song has become an earworm multiplying everywhere until it’s really not even clear how many people are in the room. It’s like Martha and the Vandellas with no cap on the number Vandellas who can participate.
If you’ve seen Churls live recently, you’re one of the lucky few. They’ve played just a handful of shows in the last few years, living rooms and backyards and with a fairly fluid lineup. It’s a roster that at times includes some very recognizable Nebraska musicians: Joe Knapp of Son, Ambulance, Teal Gardner and Jim Schroeder of UUVVWWZ. And where the aforementioned bands often find those musicians flexing some of their technical muscles, Churls — limited though public knowledge of the group may be — looks like a space for stretching out and melding voices.
You can see them tonight at The Bourbon at a benefit for the Lincoln Bike Kitchen. It’s a 5 p.m. show, but right now they join us live on Hear Nebraska FM. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Churls.
Listen to the show here: