It seems that the farm boy image isn’t just disappearing from Iowa these days. While Mudder and Slipknot were catering to the central Iowa hardcore scene in 1997, Lawrence, Kan. was providing music fans with its own brand of rock of the less aggressive kind.Kansas natives the Ultimate Fakebook and the Get Up Kids were selling out small venues all over the Midwestern while garnering the attention of labels from all over the country.The Creature Comforts are the band you may not have heard of.Hailing from Lawrence, the Creature Comforts have been playing their brand of pop music since 1997, when frontman Chris Tolle’s band Action Man broke up.Tolle was performing acoustic sets after his band had broken up when his roommate, drummer Bill Brimblecom, suggested the two combine their efforts.”Both of our bands broke up at the same time,” Tolle says. “We got together and then stole my friend Brian from another band.”Tolle had studio time booked for himself but when the band began working well together, he decided to invite the whole band in for the sessions.It wasn’t long after that the band was picked up by Noisome Records, home to Ultimate Fakebook, switched bass players again, and released their first album, “Politics of Pop.”The band ventured out as a three-piece supporting their album. They made a stop at the M-Shop last year opening for Pat Wilson of Weezer’s side project Special Goodness. The band still says that the M-Shop show has been one of their best.”It remains one of our favorite shows that we’ve played and we’re excited to play the M-Shop again,” Tolle says.The band has gone through a major overhaul since the last time ISU music fans have seen them. A series of changes that include a new member and a record label. Tolle hopes that both of these changes will give the band more prominence in the Midwestern music scene.”J.D.’s been a friend of mine for a long time and when we decided to branch out he seemed like the obvious choice,” Tolle says. “He had already been traveling with us and he’s really great at singing and playing the keyboards.”With J.D.’s presence, the band has expanded their sound not only with their live show but also with their experimentation in the studio. “We’re able to do a lot more,” Tolle says. “Before we were hammering out rock songs, and now we are more than a simple trio-based rock band and now we have a lot broader scope of songs and we are more pop-oriented.”The Comforts and Noisome Records have come to some disagreements in the past year. With the band’s choice to not only branch out musically but also to new fans, Noisome could no longer assist the band in accomplishing their goals.”They weren’t really willing to grow,” Tolle says. “They were a stepping stone label and we stepped out.”The Creature Comforts moved on to Hearbox Records after recording their new record “Teaching Little Fingers to Play.” The label will re-release the self-produced album in February. The band has high hopes for the record because it’s being released to a much broader audience.”Hearbox is a bigger label and they are definitely going to release this record,” Tolle says.With the re-release of the “Teaching Little Fingers to Play,” the band has decided to head out on a tour that will lead them to the M-Shop Saturday evening — this time as headliners.The band has yet to tour the west coast because of what Tolle calls “West Coast Phobia.””It’s much easier to tour in the east because there aren’t as many off nights or marathon drives,” Tolle explains. “It’s a long way between major cities out west. It’s not as easy.”The Creature Comforts share more than musical similarities with Ultimate Fakebook. The two bands used to be roommates together and have put out a 7″ split.The Comforts feel no jealousy about the success of Ultimate Fakebook. In fact they know that with the success of bands like Fakebook and the Get Up Kids, more bands in the area will get the recognition they deserve.”Those two bands in particular work very hard and deserve all they have,” Tolle says. “Plus, it puts our town on the map and helps out the bands here.”The band has not counted out the possibility of joining with a major label, as Ultimate Fakebook has, if the situation presents itself. However, the band enjoys the freedom they have with independent labels.”We’ll do this one step at a time,” Tolle says. “Indie suits us really well right now because we are able to do a lot by ourselves.”If we reach enough people and sell enough records I really don’t see us going anywhere,” he adds.The group is trying to keep the business side of things as simple as the songs but Tolle and the Comforts still have one thing in mind.”The band’s goal at this point is to write good songs and make good records,” Tolle says. “It all still falls into a basic guitar pop thing.”