The four men in Lawrence, Kansas, band Conner are resourceful, but they’re Midwesterners so it’s somewhat expected. You use that mind’s eye a little more when things like valet doesn’t exist where you’re from. You fend for yourself. This is the one place in the Daytrotter spectrum where you can confidently expect to read something situational and exclusive to the particular visitor and their particular visit, something that would be woefully out-of-place anywhere else it could possibly be crammed. So here we go. They came on a Sunday after playing Chicago and James Duft, Tom Wagner, Phil Bonahoon and Bryce Boyle were making the long drive back home without a show between points. They’d stayed at a friend’s first floor apartment the night before and as they left, he had to be somewhere as well. A few blocks away, Duft discovers that he’s left his cell phone – “his life,” as he puts it—back at the apartment. Everything’s locked up and he obviously can’t call his friend to turn around (no phone). They were going to give up, give in, quit the fight, but one look at the window unit air conditioner – baby!—and everything was alright (oh, Mr. Big, you’ve given me a voice so many times when I couldn’t find the right words to express myself and propel a story along). It’s scary how people can just get into your home in the summertime. They popped the air conditioner out of its place and shimmied their way into the building to retrieve the phone that, had it stayed there for a week, would have made Duft’s world feel like a black hole of nothingness. It has nothing to do with their music, you say? On the contrary, this resourcefulness portrays itself in the songs that the band wrote for “Hello Graphic Missile,” all of which are nocturnal anthems of inadequate relationships and disappointments that can – given the right forum – likely blow their own smoke rings. Quite an accomplishment for a song. – Sean Moeller

First song
Go Back (Conner) [3.66MB] [2154 downloads]


– unreleased
The greatest line from this stellar cut is, with Duft copping that alluring British tongue and singing, “I don’t know why we try it doesn’t matter cause it’s all been done before.” It’s a defeatist notion, but it’s one that this dynamic band of Jayhawks doesn’t really take to heart.

Second song
Time and Money (Conner) [3.87MB] [2127 downloads]


– unreleased
“And what kind of drinks could we have if we only had time and some money.” It always comes down to that, doesn’t it? Stupid time. Stupid money. We could really do a number on our sober bodies with those two key ingredients.
Says Duft about the two new songs, “The two new songs (both working titles), came together totally naturally, so I can’t really give you a good idea of our mind set. They really just sort of happened. As for the words, I was making them up for the most part on the spot. The music always comes first with us – always. And I hadn’t spent anytime on lyrics yet. However, we just recorded ‘Go Back’ and used the same lyrics.”

Third song(s)/Arena rock medley
Silent Film Score/Cold Feelings (Conner) [5.21MB] [2380 downloads]


– original versions appear on “Hello Graphic Missile”
Somehow we weren’t prepared for the greatness that these two songs slapped together would bring forth from the speakers. Here they were, two songs that can be found in consecutive order on the record, and yet, they take on considerably different lives in this staple medley of the band’s live set. It’s as if these songs each gained at least one extra heart because things start beating louder and getting out of control. Then you take your pulse, realize that you’re the culprit in all of this, shrug and keep fucking shit up because you ARE out of control. An illusion this is not.

Says Duft, “Silent Film Score” is one of the first songs we ever wrote as Conner in 2002, I think. I do remember it was a reggae song at first and it sort of morphed into what it is now, soon after it was written. “Cold Feelings” is my fave song of ours, if I can be granted the privilege of saying something like that. But when I wrote this song I feel we found a voice all our own. And I felt really comfortable doing it. It has this post-punk, R&B thing to it, which changed the way we approach song writing. Everything is much less forced and formulaic. The two songs are played back-to-back cause that is how we play ‘em live. We aren’t much for talking. We like to keep the music going so we combined most of the songs together for the live setting. I hope it makes for a fun show. It makes it fun for us.”