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Post by muzzleofbees on Jan 7, 2021 7:58:17 GMT -5
I just wonder if any of you know anything about the relationship between Craig and John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats. I was very much into Mountain Goats before I even heard Hold Steady (and actually my first though upon hearing Separation Sunday for the first time was that it sounded like Mountain Goats songs played by a very good rock'n'roll band), and I think it's fair to say that they have the potential to appeal to the same type of people. I remember it was especially exciting to hear Girls Like Status, and that very explicit reference to Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree and This Year. And I remember googling aroud at that time, and finding the photo embedded here (which looks like it is from 2004-05). I would like to know where that picture stems from. Does anybody know? I seem to remember John Darnielle blogging about Lifter Puller back in the day, and in recent times Craig have referred to Darnielle as "my friend". I'm just curious how far back their relationship stretches, and if there is any interviews, podcasts or other stuff where they bring light to this. In recent years they have popped up together in various settings. Craig joining Mountain Goats on This Year in that Youtube clip you probably all have seen, and Craig appearing in the I Only Listen To Mountain Goats podcast, covering Fault Lines. (I wasn't able to embed the full shot I wanted, but it looks like several similar photos from the same series. You'll find it if you google "john darnielle craig finn", obviously)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2021 19:11:33 GMT -5
That image (which used to be my phone wallpaper) is from a New Yorker article (might be paywalled) about their friendship: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/16/the-declaimersJohn and Craig have talked about their friendship a bunch, and there are little references everywhere. My favorite is the ultra obscure TMG song For The Krishnacore Bands: themountaingoats.fandom.com/wiki/For_the_Krishnacore_Bands"I was sitting around one day, I was thinking about two things: I was thinking about Krishnacore, and I was thinking about Craig Finn. What would it be like if Craig wrote a song about the Krishnacore bands? This is called 'For the Krishnacore Bands.'" -- 2019-04-28 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA I've heard somewhere - and I'm not sure if this is true - that the entire Mountain Goats project was inspired by LIFTERPULLER, which would make their influence on music really significant.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Jan 11, 2021 4:27:45 GMT -5
I've heard somewhere - and I'm not sure if this is true - that the entire Mountain Goats project was inspired by LIFTERPULLER, which would make their influence on music really significant. I'm pretty sure that's not entirely true. Mountain Goats was a thing even before Lifter Puller released their first record, and he was allready a few songs into his most famous narrative project, the one about the Alpha couple. But I've read plenty of praise of Lifter Puller from John Darnielle. Like this piece, from his page/blog Last Plane To Jakarta: Well -- it’s not like I didn’t tell you at the outset that it was nearly impossible to explain what makes Lifter Puller so magnificent. It’s more than “They write the most teeth-grindingly realistic drug songs ever,” though there is that. It’s more important than “They do the indie-rock scripted rave-up trick better than anybody,” though there’s that, too. I think it’s this: that even in their first moves, as on this imperfect first album, they were committed to painting complex scenes with simple, chime-rhyming strokes. I’d tell you more, but what can I say? They are my favorite band and I can’t for the life of me imagine why the entire civilized world hasn’t rallied around them and proclaimed them the saviors of rock that they really were. Not the Strokes, though they’re O.K. Not the New Pornographers, though they’re great at times. Not the Jicks, though God bless ‘em. Lifter Puller. Damn it, you guys. Lifter Puller.I'm well aware of their connection and friendship. What I wonder is how far back it goes.
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bigontheinside
Midnight Hauler
If you don't know the words, don't sing along
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Post by bigontheinside on Jan 11, 2021 17:25:37 GMT -5
John and Craig have talked about their friendship a bunch, and there are little references everywhere. My favorite is the ultra obscure TMG song For The Krishnacore Bands: themountaingoats.fandom.com/wiki/For_the_Krishnacore_Bands"I was sitting around one day, I was thinking about two things: I was thinking about Krishnacore, and I was thinking about Craig Finn. What would it be like if Craig wrote a song about the Krishnacore bands? This is called 'For the Krishnacore Bands.'" -- 2019-04-28 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA . Always thought that was funny because Barely Breathing exists
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2021 0:39:17 GMT -5
I have no idea if this is just a coincidence, but I'm listening to We Do It Different on the West Coast and the line 'I heard they had a problem with some skinheads' always jumps out at me.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Jan 21, 2021 3:06:29 GMT -5
The Last Plane To Jakarta post about Lifter Puller is dated to December 2nd 2001. It can be read in full here: lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/lift.htmlJune 6th 2004 he also made a review (sort of) of Almost Killed Me too: lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/hold.htmlThere might be other references to LP/THS/Craig buried in other texts on LPTJ, and Darnielle is generally a wonderfully good writer, so I recommend reading through a few of his old posts.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2021 7:33:36 GMT -5
That first post captures how I feel about saying THS are my favourite band, and as a whole is probably the best thing I’ve read about Craig Finn’s lyrics and fandom and music...(though I’m still wrapping my head around Nick Cave being fallible, and if the Bad Seeds are the best live band in the world, THS aren’t...having seen them both a few times I think I agree with John...but it’s a high bar to clear, and it might be that the Bad Seeds lean so heavily into the ‘concert as religious metaphor’ THS sing about... I have way way too many thoughts about Nick Cave/The Hold Steady/The Mountain Goats since I found out the latter were huge fans of the former...)
That whole blog was a trip...I remember the poems about Drastus, and some kind of Axl Rose/Eminem bondage fanfic with a South American mythological name?
I will say that I have tried many different ways to get people into THS, and there’s a certain kind of person to whom ‘John Darnielle’s favorite songwriter’ is the best possible argument you can make’.
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Post by blackoutsam on Feb 11, 2021 14:39:56 GMT -5
I'm only here to hope this thread can somehow manifest itself into a co-headlining tour with my two favorite bands.
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Post by franknagaijr on Mar 4, 2021 18:26:45 GMT -5
Also chiming in as 'yeah, my top two favorite active bands!' I have a tMG cover project, with a handful of tHS covers.
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