Lifter Puller, Rock and Roll!

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I liked SS a lot at first but yeah, immersion was key as usual. Though Almost Killed Me didn't require it to the same degree that F+F or SS did, oddly enough. Maybe it's that whole narrative thing. (A Grand Don't Come for Free to thread.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:41 (eighteen years ago) link

I just couldn't get into the narrative much. The Catholic/druggie thing just didn't grab me.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:43 (eighteen years ago) link

plus when I sunk too deep into the story the classic rock lifts just felt really gratuitous and distracting.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:43 (eighteen years ago) link

I like SS a lot, but I got tired of it pretty quickly and I can't imagine getting bored with AKM or FF despite having listened to them a lot more.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:47 (eighteen years ago) link

I dunno if it's the narrative. I feel like the F+F story is consistently engaging and a lot more dense--I'm always noticing new things. I got sick of SS the more I pieced the story together.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:49 (eighteen years ago) link

that's fair, AM; I felt that way at first but it stopped being an issue for me, I guess. the Catholic stuff goes completely over my head most of the time, though. (obviously the Minneapolis stuff doesn't. I wish I could act like that doesn't affect my view of it/them, but it totally does.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Haha, I find the Minneapolis stuff really exciting and I haven't stepped foot outside of the Mpls airport. City-specific stuff always almost gets me.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:57 (eighteen years ago) link

hence my Streets-luv! never left the U.S. much less been to London

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 7 July 2005 00:11 (eighteen years ago) link

the acoustic hold steady set was a-mazing...

― phil-two (phil-two), Thursday, 7 July 2005 04:38 (eighteen years ago) link

four months pass...

Fiesta + Fiascos is terrific.

― 'Twan (miccio), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link

The funny thing is it might be making me appreciate Separation Sunday even less - need to throw it on again sometime soon.

― 'Twan (miccio), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:36 (eighteen years ago) link

LFTR PLLR is better than Hold Steady, no question in my mind. But both are great.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

They're the 2 most under-appreciated bands of all time. but the Hold Steady have stepped up to a whole new universe of wasomeness beyond LFTR PLLR. Why aren't they the most popular band on the planet?

― Amity Wong (noodle vague), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 21:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I too have visited the Minneapolis airport!

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 22:31 (eighteen years ago) link

it's a decent airport. nothin' fancy. my friend manages the chili's on the G gate!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 22:42 (eighteen years ago) link

does kogan like lifter puller?

― tom west (thomp), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:06 (eighteen years ago) link

Kogan wrote about Fiestas and voted for it in Pazz & Jop.

I KNEW you'd like that album, 'Twan, and I'm glad you do.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:09 (eighteen years ago) link

Matos,

You don't live here anymore so maybe you've got "perspective", but I just playing the B.S. old skool Mpls fanboy syndrome "oh you should have seen them back when" crap when I think LFTR is better than Hold Steady? cuz I really do.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:11 (eighteen years ago) link

whatever lftr pllr record matos played me during emp was absolutely great, but strangely i havent felt the urge to actually get one of the records. i have given up completely on the hold steady.

― dabnis coleman's ghost (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:17 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't feel comfortable making that assessment yet, but I do prefer LP overall.

the LP record I played Jess was Fiestas + Fiascos, preceded by "To Live and Die in LBI" and "Nassau Coliseum"

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:18 (eighteen years ago) link

i think what i liked better about lifter puller was the more straight-up indie rock sound (one of the basslines reminded me of mogwai!) which seemed to suit finn's delivery better. whereas with the classic rock stuff i am back to "why do you hate rhythm?" etc etc.

― dabnis coleman's ghost (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:19 (eighteen years ago) link

I might might might just prefer Half Dead & Dynamite to Fiestas + Fiascos, & "Secret Santa Cruz" is still my favourite Finn track. has anyone here heard "Bitchy Christmas"? is it FESTIVE?

― etc, Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:27 (eighteen years ago) link

i think what i liked better about lifter puller was the more straight-up indie rock sound (one of the basslines reminded me of mogwai!) which seemed to suit finn's delivery better

that's kinda it for me too! plus big influence of archers of loaf, who i love a lot too.

that said, i like finn's jive ass B.S. enough to dig hold steady. and i like thin lizzy.

etc OTM, yeah I like Half Dead the best....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:27 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't hear any rhythm-hate in THS at all!

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 23:31 (eighteen years ago) link

THS's tempos are slower though - more arena, which is obviously the idea - I dig the Hold Steady plenty, but Lifter Puller had that "oh shit I have had a vision" energy

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 00:49 (eighteen years ago) link

Last summer on LBI I was at a pub with my wife and kid eating lunch and wearing my Lifter Puller t-shirt. When our waiter saw it, he just about freaked saying he was best friends with Steve's (LP's guitar player) brother. He asked me if I was from Minneapolis and how did I know about Lifter Puller (I am from New Jersey). I told him they were awesome. He said Steve worked at M&M Clam Bar down the street growing up. And he also said that the Hold Steady would rule the world. Then he said Steve made a mistake in not going to NYC with C Finn. The End.

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 03:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I wouldn't say "rhythm-hate" but I don't really get why they're referencing classic-rock in tales of skaterpunks. It's not NOW 'arena', but THEN 'arena.' The GVSB post-punk sound definitely gels better with his voice and themes, I love when its all rushing by so fast I miss lines and the a groove kicks in almost outta nowhere.

Plus I am SO not a Catholic.

― 'Twan (miccio), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:05 (eighteen years ago) link

"The Cattle and the Creeping Things" > schaffel

― disco violence (disco violence), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 06:37 (eighteen years ago) link

I have never been to Minneapolis nor have I been to Catholicism (or any religion, actually), but I'm pretty obsessive about SS right now. To the point of thinking of getting that LFTR PLLR double that Xgau A minussed last year. I only pay attention to lyrics when they make me, and this one does. I want to work out more about the stories (or is it just one story) that threads in and out. It'll take me a while, especially since I can never hear anything when the bus roars through the tunnel on my way to work. But I like the Bruce thing the band has going as well.

― thousands of tiny luminous spheres (plebian), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 08:30 (eighteen years ago) link

lotsa Catholic imagery on the LP records, too, just not as overt. they also referenced indie punk in tales of ravers--your point?

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 08:52 (eighteen years ago) link

"Why is this comedy about war?"

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 08:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm not a hobbit but I still liked Lord of the Rings.

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 15:15 (eighteen years ago) link

classic rock = acknowledging their own seperateness from the cast of characters, viz. darnielle on 'certain songs': "there is a certain poignancy in trying to work out who is addressing who" (okay not exactly a quote but eh.)

― tom west (thomp), Wednesday, 7 December 2005 23:01 (eighteen years ago) link

Just a data point in case anyone was getting the impression that the pleasure in this music was necessarily related to local knowledge of one sort or another.

― thousands of tiny luminous spheres (plebian), Thursday, 8 December 2005 08:38 (eighteen years ago) link

I think what I love most about the Hold Steady, that I don't necessarily love about Lifter Puller, is that his storytelling has become, for lack of a better word, more "believable." That is -- the neo-Chandler noir bits of the LFTR PLLR mythology weren't all that believable to me, though they were enjoyable. The Separation Sunday story, though, feels completely "real" and it doesn't feel like Finn's putting on an act or exaggerating for effect. Real life is epic enough.

Then again, I'm a Minneapolitan who moved to New York, so etc. etc...

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:06 (eighteen years ago) link

The Osseo reference in Hoodrat Friend is awesome though! I'm officially offering Finn $25 cash if he can work in Coon Rapids or Norwood Young America into the next one!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:27 (eighteen years ago) link

someone should make a Craig Finn Map of the Twin Cities

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:30 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm a big fan of the sneaky "Stillwater" ref. in Hoodrat Friend, but then again I'm just a sucker for every geographical reference he makes (the railroad bridge! I used to drink beneath it too!)

If I see him around, I'll ask him why he hasn't yet taken advantage of the many possibilities "Eden Prairie" provides.

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Penetration Park = Loring Park, right?

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:33 (eighteen years ago) link

because Eden Prairie sucks! (haha, I have no idea whether Eden Prairie sucks)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:35 (eighteen years ago) link

I, too, will put down $25 for a mention of H4stings or Triangle Park.

xpost: pretty sure it sucks.

― giboyeux (skowly), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:37 (eighteen years ago) link

haha craig finn map:

(Uptown? always assumed) Rainbow Foods
Nankin (RIP)
Penetration (Loring) Park
the corner of 15th and Franklin
Payne Avenue
Yukon Club

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:42 (eighteen years ago) link

Some of my favorites:

Railroad Bridge - the one between 26th and 27th streets? teen ne'er-do-wells park their bikes in the trees and drink on the shore or on the bridge.

Edina -- in "Hornets! Hornets!"
we were livin up at nicollet and 66th. with 3 skaters and some hoodrat chick. drove the wrong way down 169. almost died up by edina high.

The City Center ref in Hoodrat Friend always cracks me up.

And, of course, Lake Street is for Lovers.

There ought to be one of those google map hacks with little flags on all the places.

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh! And (the carpet at) the Thunderbird!

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 21:59 (eighteen years ago) link

Last summer, I visited Mpls and stayed at the hotel above City Center, and was craving Taco Bell, so I went in and everything was shuttered. All I could think about was that line in "Hoodrat."

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 8 December 2005 22:01 (eighteen years ago) link

You were so close to Block E! You could've gone to the Hard Rock Cafe!

(shudder)

― A|ex P@reene (Pareene), Thursday, 8 December 2005 22:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I was listening to the Hold Steady when that Thunderbird lyric came on and my mom was like, "The Thunderbird!"

― giboyeux (skowly), Thursday, 8 December 2005 22:09 (eighteen years ago) link

(...that post almost made sense. Almost.)

― giboyeux (skowly), Thursday, 8 December 2005 22:11 (eighteen years ago) link

three years pass...

I think I have all this stuff (the odds and ends collection is all on Soft Rock, it looks like). But still - nice. Also I guess Soft Rock is outta print or something.

http://pitchfork.com/news/37089-pre-hold-steady-band-lifter-puller-remembered-with-reissue-series-book/

― dmr, Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:15 (fourteen years ago) link

digital reissue = laaaaaame

― call all destroyer, Thursday, 12 November 2009 19:16 (fourteen years ago) link

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