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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Statistics: Score another one for Omaha
Friday 27 February @ 12:38:45 |
 by Rob van Alstyne
If Omaha is the new Seattle; then Statistics are the new Alice in Chains. OK, that’s a bit of a stretch, the slickly rocking solo venture of Omaha boy-done-good Denver Dalley doesn’t actually bear any resemblance to the sludge-crunch of Layne Staley and company, but the point remains the same.
The Nebraska based Saddle Creek record label affiliated family of bands (whose most prominent members are Bright Eyes, the Faint and Cursive) currently finds itself squinting under the harsh glare of a media spotlight not seen in one city since the heydays of Cameron Crowe smooch-fests and unwashed flannels some dozen odd years ago.
Omaha boy-done good - Denver Dalley - of Statistics
With seemingly everyone in the greater Omaha area under the age of 30 forming a band and instantly finding itself on the CMJ Top 200, it can be hard to separate out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to discovering worthwhile Nebraskan music-makers. Dalley certainly has the right connections (he played guitar in Bright Eyes main man Conor Oberst’s currently-on-hiatus rock vehicle Desaparecidos), but with Leave Your Name he leaves no doubt as to what earned him access to the tightly knit inner circle of Saddle Creek’s music scene—the boys got skillz. Desa’s debut, the acerbic and enthralling Read Music/Speak Spanish was arguably the best thing to come out of the whole Nebraska scene. An 80s power-pop record played at warp speed, Desa’s collection of hi-jacked Superchunk riffs and distorted keyboard pounding proved Oberst could manage to kick ass with a little help from his friends. That tall guy spastically screaming in the background and peeling off huge hooks? That was Dalley.
“Desaparecidos was my first real band and I really wanted to do it full time,” says Dalley looking back on the group. “I think everybody did - but schedules could only allow so much. When I realized that I wouldn’t be touring or recording with Desa as much, I started working more on Statistics. Statistics was really born out of suddenly having all this down time.” Not one to sit idly by, Dalley unleashed Statistics debut EP just a few months after Desaparecidos finished up touring.
With still no Desaparecidos reunion on the horizon, Dalley then set about to fashion a proper full-length debut, Leave Your Name. Although a brief ride (the 11 track album clocks in at a shade under thirty minutes), Dalley managed to cram a world of musical ideas into his first solo album. Spikey new-wave-influenced pop like the nervey and anthemic “Sing a Song” wouldn’t have seemed out of place on Desaparecido’s album. But Dalley is just as likely to purr through a vocoder over poppy keyboard melodies (“Hours Seemed Like Days”), or deliver a blazing guitar led instrumental (“Mr. Nathan”).
“It was kind of an unsaid thing in my mind that I didn’t want Statistics to sound exactly like Desaparecidos,” admits Dalley. “Ultimately I really just was kind of doing—not to sound crass—but just doing whatever I wanted. I had a really open canvas, I did whatever felt right and that’s also why the record has a broad spectrum of styles. I would put poppy songs alongside sort of ambient transitions. I like albums that aren’t fatiguing on the ears; I hate listening to an album and finding out there are ten songs that are basically the same.”
Far from fatiguing, Leave Your Name provides some of the more invigorating company these ears have had in quite awhile. Some of Dalley’s ambient numbers are guilty of making little impact, (is filler really OK on an album this short?), but still provide the perfect set-up and pacing to keep his rocking anthems sounding fresh. The few words that do turn up on the record chronicle hopes and dreams, first conceived—then dashed, in a concise but evocative manner.
“The Grass is Always Greener” speaks directly about the touring musician who feels equally out of place at home and on the road, no doubt a real feeling for someone who spent the summer of 2003 playing to sold out throngs opening up for Jimmy Eat World and then headed back home to live amidst quiet corn fields.
All of the songs lyrics flow together seamlessly to form a cohesive story—but don’t start talking concept album. “The songs came together in batches,” claims Dalley. “I tried to shy away from the whole concept album label though, because I didn’t want to have too much opinion or story shoved down people’s throats. I wanted it to be more open to interpretation. I kind of thought about the album in three stages. The first three songs are loosely about this idealist romantic musician, the middle songs are about this bitter corporate guy, Mr. Nathan, and the final songs are about a man looking back and reminiscing. So [Leave Your Name’s] kind of got a ‘young guy, middle-aged guy, old guy’ thing happening.”
Armed with a seemingly endless bag of hooks and a solid debut under his arms, Dalley appears to have got it all, and at a young age to boot. The Omaha explosion may have placed Dalley in an enviable position, (a picture and brief hype-heavy album preview ran in Rolling Stone before Leave Your Name even hit the streets), but the humble musician is far from letting any glossy press clippings get to his head. “I’m honored by each album I’ve sold or each person that’s come out to a show,” claims Dalley. “It’s quite an amazing thing for people to give you a part of their evening to hear what you have to say. I’m really appreciative of all that, and while there’s a great deal of attention on Omaha and the band’s there right now, I think we’re all aware that this could be the height of that attention—and that’s OK. You just sort of hope for the best and expect the worst and be grateful for all the opportunities that you get.”
Statistics plays Sat., Feb. 28, at the Triple Rock Social Club with Engine Down and headliners the Jealous Sound. 5 p.m. $8. All Ages. 629 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-333-7399.
Download an mp3 of Statistics’ song “Another Day.”
You can find out more about Statistics on Dalley’s official website.
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