Child Ballads
Cheekbone Hollows may have been criticized as too simplistic, but folks should know that frontman Stewart Lupton does nothing simple
By Erik Adams
Published: April 24th, 2008 | 3:01pm
As part of a medieval theology course he took while attending George Washington University, Child Ballads frontman Stewart Lupton was tasked with building a paper model of Notre Dame Cathedral.
“It’s a kit they must give to lifers or people who are terminally ill; because even with me and two freshman lackeys, it took a matter of months,” Lupton said in a phone interview. “It’s not your basic model airplane.”
It may have taken a few months of cutting and gluing for Lupton and his school chums to recreate one of the pinnacles of Gothic architecture, but it took three years of writing and tinkering for the Child Ballads to complete their recently released debut EP, Cheekbone Hollows (Pop. 1/2 Life). Still, that length of time seems insignificant considering that the album is Lupton’s first new release since the late ’90s dissolution of his previous band, Jonathan Fire*Eater (This is the part of the article where the Velvet Underground post-break-up influence of Jonathan Fire*Eater is acknowledged, along with the fact that 3/5th of the band went on to become 3/5th of the Walkmen).
With Jonathan Fire*Eater no more, Lupton returned to his hometown of Washington, D.C. He enrolled at GWU, dabbling in poetry, medieval studies, and art history. “I was the sketchy old guy in the back of the class … aging, in the back of the class,” he said.
All the while, he was learning how to play guitar, writing a book of poems, and working on new music. What Lupton and his band eventually brought to the recording studio were songs built on roots rock and retro pop, but with potential to be so much more.
“We had a goal in mind to take the template of a Motown song,” he said. “We tried to adhere to a formula and then deconstruct it.”
The results are deceptively complicated. On a passive listen, Cheekbone Hollows gives off the vibe of an unpolished jamboree, a roomful of friends hashing their own material, and putting their personal spin on rock standards (The main riff of “Laughter in the Rafters” is one-chord shy of being the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden”). Such superficial readings of the record have not pleased Lupton.
“I’ve read reviews—‘Lurching, ragged, bluesy country’—that’s the foundation, those were the first tracks,” Lupton said. “Maybe it’s a little lurching because our drummer had a tendency to play behind the beat, which I liked at the time. In terms of the country thing, that’s just sloppy writing.”
Slap on a pair of headphones and Cheekbone Hollows reveals itself as a collection of analog songs remodeled with digital tools. Guitar tracks are piled high, while Betsy Wright’s viola is processed into an unearthly hum. Lupton and company utilized the studio not only as an instrument but also as a serendipitous collaborator.
“Around minute 2:20 during “Laughter in the Rafters” is a good example. It peaks, and you don’t think it could peak any more. Then out of nowhere—nor the left nor the right panning—comes this vocal that’s heavily processed and heavily pining for something. It comes in quite louder than the others and then the song goes back into the verse,” Lupton said. “Moments like that are why I do it. That was a happy accident that we really weren’t looking for.”
Cheekbone Hollows was released in the United Kingdom last winter. When it came time to prepare the U.S. version, Lupton was given the option to expand the track list from six songs to 10. While he had enough songs to do so—he’s got a whole record ready to go—the decision was made to keep the initial running length.
“I have an affinity for EPs,” Lupton said. “I like the idea of them; it works well for us. With an EP, it’s a lot easier to have silver threads lining the whole thing that you can kind of follow.”
The “us” Lupton spoke of is a completely different group from the one that recorded Cheekbone Hollows. Just as Lupton’s songs are open to evolution (an evolution that is promised to continue throughout the band’s May 2008 tour with the Kills), so too is the Child Ballads’ lineup.
“I like to mix it up a little bit. Also, life happens — people have jobs and I don’t have the money to bankroll everyone, unfortunately,” he said. “But the enthusiasm of the people that I’ve played with has been wonderful.”
Might their enthusiasm carry over into the world of highly detailed architectural miniatures (Because Lupton picked up another paper model kit on a recent trip to Florence, Italy)? He joked that in lieu of college freshmen, he’d enlist the Child Ballads’ rhythm section, though they wouldn’t be able to take the project on the road.
“The bouncing around in the van, and the X-ACTO knives, and the ego and aggression of a male rocknroll band might not be the best,” Lupton said. “Plus the glue … we’re trying to clean up our act, so we probably don’t want the fumes floating around all day.”
Issue #25
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