Just a band, man
Trenton's Swingin' Neckbreakers wrestle with (cult) success
by Sean Glennon
You know what's great about Swingin' Neckbreakers frontman Tom
Jorgensen? He's got exactly the
right attitude. For despite his band's considerable cred within the garage-rock
world, Jorgensen hasn't let it go to his head.
Certain realities have helped him stay humble -- namely, Jorgensen and his
bandmates (drummer John Jorgensen and guitarist Jeff Jefferson) still need to
work at their day jobs.
Every weekend, though, they drive from their home base, in Trenton, New Jersey,
to gigs in cities along the East Coast. But rarely do the paychecks climb above
the couple-hundred-bucks' mark. When you factor in travel and tech expenses,
along with the time spent, these guys are working pretty cheap. "I figured it
out one day: it's 13 cents an hour," Jorgensen says. "But it's no big deal.
It's just a band. It's not a life-and-death thing. It would be nice to make a
living at it, but right now we just do it for fun."
Perhaps that's the only approach that makes sense, Jorgensen points out.
"You've got a billion and one bands out there, and then there's maybe three
percent of those that actually make it or even get to where they can make a
decent living," he says. "We just wanna play music. That's really all I care
about. . . . I had someone come up to me and say, `Live for
Buzz [the Neckbreakers' 1993 debut disc, released by Telstar Records] is
all I listen to.' That's pretty cool. If we can just have a cult following,
that's enough for me."
And a cult following is exactly what the Neckbreakers have, which makes them
about as successful as a garage-rock band can expect to be these days. After
all, there's no radio support for the kind of hard-driving, back-to-the-basics,
'60s-style, grind-it-out guitar music they make; and major labels seem more
intent on signing the latest Korn-klones than on giving a damn about groups
like the Neckbreakers.
So what? This music is good. It's got energy. It's got soul. It's made of sweat
and spit and a fair amount of piss. And when it comes to real rock and
roll, those are the only things that matter.
The band have proven how well they understand what's important through an
ungodly number of live shows and four full-length albums. Their latest
long-player, The Return of Rock (Telstar), was released in April.
Return represents a bit of a break from tradition. For out of 14 tracks,
there's only one cover tune. A bit of a gamble, for obscure covers are almost a
pre-requisite for hardcore garage fans. Subsequently, Jorgensen is a bit
concerned about how longtime Neckbreakers fans will react. "I don't know if
people who are core fans are gonna be disappointed," he says. "The purists of
garage rock can be that way sometimes."
But the band didn't set out to placate the cognoscenti, he says -- they just
wanted a good rock-and-roll record. Jorgensen, for his part, thinks they pulled
it off. And he fires back at his would-be critics. "I think it's the most
garagey stuff we've done, even though I wrote the songs," he says.
It's easy to agree: Return is a fine record, and one that finds the
Neckbreakers in classic form. With each tune, the band renew their commitment
to good old-fashioned rock and roll. One of the best tracks is "Hail to the
Baron," a pounding, two-and-a-half-minute tribute to professional wrestler
"Baron" Mikel Scicluna. This one could end up a classic, or at least a staple
of other garage-bands' cover-tune repertoires.
Yet it's another Jorgensen-penned original, "I'm in a Band," that best sums up
the Neckbreakers. "We've got a record/Ain't got no hits/Don't make no
money/Don't get no chicks/We're out of gas/We need a place to crash/I'm in a
band/Yeah, it's a laugh," Jorgensen sings. "I'm in a band/And he's in a
band/She's in a band/Everybody's in a band."
Budding rockers, take note: if you can look at rock and roll that way and keep
on going, that's when you know you've got your head on straight.
Swingin' Neckbreakers perform with Dimwit, Pathetics, and Downbeat 5 on June
3 at Dinny's. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $6. Call (508)
752-9667.