Permanent wax set to celebrate 25 years of the Creature Comforts’ Teaching Little Fingers to Play

The Creature Comforts // Photo Courtesy of Billy Brimblecom Jr.

This Friday, Sept. 27, power pop act The Creature Comforts reunite at recordBar for their first show since 2007. Along with their contemporaries Ultimate Fakebook, the band was stalwarts of the late ’90s and early ’00s. The Creature Comforts played innumerable shows in Lawrence and around Kansas, and “Sentimental Bliss,” from their Noisome Records debut, The Politics of Pop, achieving regular radio airplay.

Originally a trio made up of Chris Tolle on guitar and lead vocals, Brian Everard on bass, and Billy Brimblecom, Jr. on drums, the band would expand to a foursome by adding J.D. Warnock on guitar and vocals before self-releasing their sophomore full-length, Teaching Little Fingers to Play, in 1999.

As that album celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, alongside Fakebook’s This Will Be Laughing Week, The Get Up Kids’ Something to Write Home About, and the Main Street Saints’ Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven…But Nobody Wants to Die, the Creature Comforts have also honored that occasion by releasing Teaching Little Fingers to Play on limited-edition vinyl.

We asked drummer Brimblecom why the Creature Comforts chose to go with their second album for their first vinyl release, as opposed to their debut.

“For a few years now, Brian Everard has been saying that one of our best pals, Mark Tobin was wanting Teaching Little Fingers To Play on vinyl,” Brimblecom says. “This spring, it came up again and, quite simply, Mark said he’d help us get a very tiny pressing of the album done. So, it really was all our buddy Mark wanting this record in particular on vinyl.”

That said, Brimblecom admits that he now loves the idea of The Politics of Pop getting a vinyl release at some point. Both albums are finally up to stream, however, meaning that several playlists this writer has running on Spotify can now feature The Politics of Pop‘s “Charmed, I’m Sure” and Teaching Little Fingers To Play‘s “O.D.E. (Off Duty Eyes),” as God intended.

While the insistence from their friend Tobin and the band’s Everard was the main driver for this vinyl debut, and not entirely inspired by the response Ultimate Fakebook has gotten for their own vinyl reissues, Brimblecom is quick to say that he’s thrilled that their compatriots in rock have been so active this year.

“Again, this was Mark Tobin and Brian’s idea, but it’s certainly great to see UFB playing again and folks excited to see them and whatnot,” he says. “Those guys were and are our brother band, connected in so many ways, so I’m very happy they are rocking again.”

As it’s been over seven years since the band last got together, we wonder, “Why now?” for the Creature Comforts to be “rocking again” themselves.

“We talk every couple years or so about playing a show or two and with Brian living in Portland, it’s just hard to get the timing right,” Brimblecom says. “And again, Mark’s passion to bring this album to life on vinyl felt like the appropriate occasion to get together and play a couple shows to celebrate.”

The Creature Comforts then. // photo courtesy Billy Brimblecom. Jr.

When the Creature Comforts get together these days, the band is as close as they ever were. As Brimblecom points out, the group never actually officially broke up and, thus, the situation is quite amicable.

“The Creature Comforts represented so many firsts in my life—My first touring band which meant my first time going to New York City, my first time swimming in the ocean in Charleston, etc.,” reminisces the drummer, continuing on to say that what made those experiences so memorable was that they were with people that he loves like brothers.

“It’s a very warm, loving vibe with all of us and, honestly, kind of emotional to have this album we poured our hearts into have this new life 25 years later,” Brimblecom says.

As to what folks can expect from this Friday’s recordBar set, along with the band’s opening slot for Hembree at The Bottleneck on Saturday, Oct. 12, there will obviously be a solid amount from Teaching Little Fingers To Play, and although the band only released two proper albums, they actually have a ton of songs, Brimblecom says.

“We recorded a lot,” the drummer continues. “We just only had the opportunity to release two albums before we went on hiatus when Chris’s, then side project, The Belles got a major record deal, so we’ve had a lot of back and forth trying to decide what makes the cut for the show!”

As we wrap up, we ask Brimblecom if we’ll have to wait another seven years for more shows after these gigs in the next several weeks.

“Hard to say but I hope not,” Brimblecom says. “There’s a nostalgia listening to these songs we recorded so many years ago when we were basically not even young men, but more like old boys! But the songs themselves, I feel, aren’t dated. This kind of American rock ‘n’ roll, to me, it’s timeless.”

While Brimblecom doesn’t think the Creature Comforts are getting in the van and going on tour anytime soon, he does feel like the road is wide open for the band to do whatever they want and, “Hopefully there’s more adventures for us sooner than later.”

The Creature Comforts play recordBar this Friday, September 27, with openers Ashtray Babyhead. Details on that show here. They also play The Bottleneck on Saturday, October 12, along with Flash Floods, opening for Hembree. Details on that show here.