Tom Lynch

These are the choices we make.

Crooked Fingers' new record, titled "Dignity and Shame" and released by the consistent Merge Records, sends the band into a wildly different direction from its previous three offerings. When Eric Bachmann formed the group at the turn of the century after his Archers of Loaf quietly disbanded, he gave up his token indie growl and presented his delicate side, without the meaty distortion that dominated Archers' memorable albums. The first Crooked Fingers record, a near-perfect lesson in transition, featured Bachmann's intricate guitar work along with an assortment of strings and a new vocal sound, as the songwriter used his voice as an instrument with different shapes and sang stories of aged drunks, unaccepted apologies, untreatable wounds. The band's sophomore release worked to the same effect, and then the third, 2003's "Red Devil Dawn," made Bachmann a definite success story of the post-nineties indie-core workforce, a proven songwriter who has the ability to make accomplished records with two different bands. He is a tower for broken men.

And now "Dignity and Shame," a new, hopeful outing for Bachmann, ripe with Spanish-infused tinkering--the opening track, "Islero," grabs its name from a famous matador-killing bull and features only Spanish guitar and congas until Latin trumpets kick in--as well as guest vocals by Australian singer Lara Meyerratken and dominating piano. Bachmann's Spain-influence curveball isn't a complete surprise--he hinted at the possibility at times during "Red Devil Dawn"--but it's a curveball nonetheless.

"It all has to do with the song `Andalucia,'" Bachmann says of his love song set in 1917, narrated by a matador, placed strategically in the center of the record. "I went looking for stories about bullfighting. Either you do it in a dignified way or you do it shamefully--that was a huge thing. That song is just pulling from legend. So there you go--I just like the way it sounds. Nothing artsy fartsy about it." He also states Adrian Shubert's "Death and Money in the Afternoon: A History of the Spanish Bullfight" as an inspiration. "I'm more influenced by movies and books than by music," he says. "The economic history of bullfighting--there's so much great shit in there from legends and everything. People criticize it and stuff, and certainly you should, but they used ticket sales to pay for health care. It's just bad things and the good things people made from them."

Bachmann originally intended the record to be a double-album and the Seattle-based band recorded more than twenty songs, but in the end, only twelve made the cut. "We felt like the double album had too much clutter," Bachmann says. "We were kind of disappointed, like we let ourselves down not doing the double record. But I'm happy we have more songs for the next album."

The wooden-porch roots rock Bachmann has pegged takes a new turn with "Dignity and Shame" as he introduces new hope to the disheartened and makes room for optimism found in love. "Yes, I unabashedly went for that big time," he says. "Heart-on-your-sleeve sentimentality. I knew it would be difficult to do a record like that. For me, it was something I didn't choose--it just sort of fell out. I'm not that much in control...There's gonna be people that feel this is really banal, dippy or stupid. You're damn straight it is, and I think it's great."

Although the record is far more simplistic in instrumentation than the previous three, focusing almost entirely on core instruments--guitar, piano, voice--with only subtle backing, the band sets out on the road with more of a stage presence then ever before, including Bachmann's recently bought piano. "We got all this shit," Bachmann laughs. "For live shows I prefer real instruments. The fewer the circuits the more emotional the impact. There's something to that idea."

Bachmann keeps his authenticity, even when some songs come off as heavy-handed or too blatant. It's all a search for meaning--to this he agrees. "At the most basic level it's a love record," Bachmann says. "The concept of what you get back from the universe is directly correlated to what you give it. And that pisses some people off. But that's okay. I'm not offended."

Crooked Fingers play on April 6 at Abbey Pub.

(2005-03-29)

Also by Tom Lynch

Tip of the Week
Charles Ponzi promised a lot of things
(2005-03-22)

Holy Hip-Hop
It feels, and looks, a bit like church
(2005-03-22)

Author Visit
Local author Elizabeth Crane's new heroine, stretched through her new book of shorts titled "All This Heavenly Glory," is funny, irresponsible, interrogative, a Chicago transplant, a bit punch-drunk, hopeless with love, often charmingly optimistic and surviving on pop-culture references
(2005-03-22)

Tip of the Week
With a debut like this, Guilfoile could be a pretty big deal
(2005-03-15)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-15)

The Politics of Storytelling
(2005-03-15)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-08)

Tip of the Week
(2005-03-01)

Tip of the Week
(2005-02-22)

DVD Tip
(2005-02-22)

Here come the carneys
(2005-02-22)

Nonfiction Review
(2005-02-22)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment