43
Common Loon is out of the ordinary
By JOHN BENSON
We all know judging a band by its name is about as successful as judging a book by its cover. However, that doesn’t change the fact that some acts initially draw our attention with their moniker.
Take for instance Illinois outfit Common Loon — Matt Campbell (vocals, drums, keyboards) and Robert Hirschfeld (vocals, guitar). On the surface, Bugs Bunny and friends come to mind, but it turns out there’s a deeper meaning.
“We’re called Common Loon because we thought it evokes the feelings of the natural world, and it kind of has the double meaning,” said Campbell, calling from his Champaign, Ill., home. “There’s a bit of humanity in there and a bit of nature in there.”
Ah, so nothing, say, loony of the “Looney Tune” variety?
“I don’t know how goofy or loony we are,” Campbell deadpanned. “I guess everyone is kind of a nut-ball in his or her own way. I don’t know if we’re any different.”
Where Common Loon is decidedly different is in its dreamy-meets-soaring sound, which has been compared to the likes of indie and/or underground acts Apples in Stereo, Grandaddy and Spiritualized.
The Midwest duo recently released its debut effort “The Long Dream of Birds,” which includes the keyboard heavy “Dinosaur Vs. Early Man” and the epic “A Moment in Energy Transfers.” Though the act is currently a twosome, Campbell said there are limitations, especially in the concert setting, that has them thinking about expansion one day.
“Well, being a two-piece makes it hard to improvise,” Campbell said. “When we play live, we have to stick to what we always do. We use backing tracks, and so we’re stuck on however long certain songs are. The tempo of it and the key of it and the structure of the song can’t really change. So it has its plusses and minuses. We’re comfortable playing as a duo, and we always thought if we found the right person or people to add, maybe sometime down the road we’ll pull the trigger. But we’re in no hurry.”
You can see Common Loon in action when the duo returns to the Lemon Grove on July 13 for its second Youngstown show. In addition to material from its new studio effort, Campbell said the act also has a few covers in its repertoire. This includes The Kinks’ “So Tired of Waiting for You” and, depending on the crowd, either Madonna’s “True Blue” or “Material Girl.” Naturally, the latter requires further elaboration. As in, what does an audience have to do to be romanced or lectured to about the material world?
“It kind of depends on the audience, I guess,” Campbell said, laughing. “We kind of make our best guess on which one we think will go over the best. It’s kind of a silly way to do it. When we think we need a pick-me-up and something to bring the house down, we go with ‘Material Girl’ because that’s always the crowd favorite.”
After a moment of silence, Campbell desperately adds, “But these are no means the highlight of our set.”