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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 6, 2021 16:53:50 GMT -5
#41: BRUCE BENDERBruce Bender could easily have fallen into an interlude category, but it feels like someting different. Bigger, more grounded, like a fully developed idea, though rather short. I love the internal drama in this one, the difference between what’s felt and what’s said, and how the dark, majestic (as much as Lifter Puller can be “majestic”) music plays along with that feeling. It starts off like a song you might expect to pick up pace, to find another gear after the initial intro. Instead it descends into something grittier and heavier, and the repeated “Love is…” lines from Craig feels like a chant from someone stuck in something he can’t (or won’t?) get out of. It’s like time has stopped here, and that Bruce Bender is a report from an isolated capsule, where the narrator is reflecting over a pivotal moment. It’s also a precursor to what Lifter Puller would do a lot more on subsequent records, especially Half Dead And Dynamite: Put in these little showstoppers that change the pace and the mood of the album as a whole. Where some of the self-titled debut feels a little too stacked with (in a lack of a better word) non-important songs, just songs put together, one after another, the opening stretch (from Double Straps to Jeep Beep Suite) is pretty well sequenced. This is a song that reminds me of Knuckles, in that it punches way above its narrative weight --- at first, second, third, fourth glance it seems to be just what it is, and you kind of forget about it as a source of story material; but then you keep coming back and noticing little gems of information buried in it ("Love is just keeping a tab/ Love is just sharing a cab" being an amazing example). There aren't many songs that can match this one for density, if it's the narrative you're after. The difference, though, is that Knuckles is a great fucking listen even if you don't care about what's going on, and Bruce Bender isn't. Here again I'm kind of embarrassed to say so, but I've got it all the way down at #50.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 8, 2021 14:38:10 GMT -5
#40: SLIPS BACKWARDS
There’s some of these early songs who sounds very teenage-y. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but I think it’s a mix between Craig’s softer, tender, less confident voice, and that the lyrical universe is seemingly grounded in younger experiences than the ones coming later on. The explicit mentions of car sex, references to skate punk and hiphop dress, the sincere apologies. I’m not sure if you catch my drift here, but that’s the impression I’m getting.
In Slips Backwards, this is backed up by quite straight-forward and streamlined indierock. It’s a nice tune, almost catchy in some sense, with some dirt around the edges, but it feels a little minor. Like an underdeveloped indierock hit with pop sensibilites.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 8, 2021 14:39:06 GMT -5
#39: ROAMING THE FOAM
I think of this as a The Mezzanine Gyp v.2.0, or a more focused version of The Gin And The Sour Defeat. Sure, there’s differences here, but they belong to the same aforementioned cold, hard, gritty group of songs. This is one of the most postpunk-y songs Lifter Puller made, and the rawness and direction in the song gives it a great and hectic intensity.
Where I have ranked a few songs a bit low cause of how they feel a bit scrambled together, that’s not the case of Roaming The Foam. Like so many other songs on Entertainment And Arts it sounds like a natural stop between the raw, thumping rock’n’roll on Half Dead, and the almost machine like buzz of Fiestas And Fiascos. And I think this is the point where they became a REALLY good band. I like many songs from Half Dead way better than what came after it, but there’s a sense of the band members hitting the right groove here.
This song also contains a few of the greatest and most cathartic parts and lines, lyrically. The “you’re in the jungle baby, you’re gonna die!” is always mesmerizing (and I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I always think of it together with the whistle on To Live And Die In LBI, which also sounds like a throwback to Apetite For Destruction). And of course, the came/kiss/kiss/came pairing, later referenced by Atmosphere, is classic stuff.
Still, it’s this synth heavy, gritty and cold track that I’ll never love. I have a fair amount of admiration for it, though.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 9, 2021 4:15:19 GMT -5
This is a song that reminds me of Knuckles, in that it punches way above its narrative weight --- at first, second, third, fourth glance it seems to be just what it is, and you kind of forget about it as a source of story material; but then you keep coming back and noticing little gems of information buried in it ("Love is just keeping a tab/ Love is just sharing a cab" being an amazing example). There aren't many songs that can match this one for density, if it's the narrative you're after. The difference, though, is that Knuckles is a great fucking listen even if you don't care about what's going on, and Bruce Bender isn't. Here again I'm kind of embarrassed to say so, but I've got it all the way down at #50. I get that! I think it's one of the songs who's grown the most on me after re-listening while reading Alright Alright. It has some identity and purpose that I think lack a little in a couple of other songs from the debut, and while it's short and pretty simple, it creates this unique vibe. And I kinda dig that.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 9, 2021 6:09:54 GMT -5
#40: SLIPS BACKWARDSThere’s some of these early songs who sounds very teenage-y. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but I think it’s a mix between Craig’s softer, tender, less confident voice, and that the lyrical universe is seemingly grounded in younger experiences than the ones coming later on. The explicit mentions of car sex, references to skate punk and hiphop dress, the sincere apologies. I’m not sure if you catch my drift here, but that’s the impression I’m getting. In Slips Backwards, this is backed up by quite straight-forward and streamlined indierock. It’s a nice tune, almost catchy in some sense, with some dirt around the edges, but it feels a little minor. Like an underdeveloped indierock hit with pop sensibilites. Right in sync here: I have it at #41. There are three things about this otherwise OK song that I actually like: - the Kerouac stuff in the second verse, especially "these denver slums they look so good in text," which is a subtle and worthy bit of standalone preaching.
- those opening lines where the song kicks into a higher register: "thought you said that you were gonna get some zest soap/ and i thought baby nice, nice, that stuff gets your skin slick." It's poppy, creepy, unembarrassed (handclaps!), but also mysterious (nice nice?) and hard to get out of your head.
- the fact that the song, like the end of Most People Are DJs, is apparently meant to flow backwards in time from an argument at a party back to the point at which the Narrator originally meets the alpha girl. I'm not sure it works, but I love the fact that Craig's not afraid to try crazy shit with like the third song in the catalog.
The thing that makes me doubt whether I'm equipped to appreciate what Slips Backwards has to offer is the uncommonly high opinion of Patrick Costello, who knows a thing or two about kickass music. This bit, from Kate Silve's article "The Mystification of Lifter Puller," in the June 2003 issue of Lost Cause, is totally worth a read ( link):
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 9, 2021 6:22:43 GMT -5
#39: ROAMING THE FOAMI think of this as a The Mezzanine Gyp v.2.0, or a more focused version of The Gin And The Sour Defeat. Sure, there’s differences here, but they belong to the same aforementioned cold, hard, gritty group of songs. This is one of the most postpunk-y songs Lifter Puller made, and the rawness and direction in the song gives it a great and hectic intensity. Where I have ranked a few songs a bit low cause of how they feel a bit scrambled together, that’s not the case of Roaming The Foam. Like so many other songs on Entertainment And Arts it sounds like a natural stop between the raw, thumping rock’n’roll on Half Dead, and the almost machine like buzz of Fiestas And Fiascos. And I think this is the point where they became a REALLY good band. I like many songs from Half Dead way better than what came after it, but there’s a sense of the band members hitting the right groove here. This song also contains a few of the greatest and most cathartic parts and lines, lyrically. The “you’re in the jungle baby, you’re gonna die!” is always mesmerizing (and I don’t know if it’s intentional, but I always think of it together with the whistle on To Live And Die In LBI, which also sounds like a throwback to Apetite For Destruction). And of course, the came/kiss/kiss/came pairing, later referenced by Atmosphere, is classic stuff. Still, it’s this synth heavy, gritty and cold track that I’ll never love. I have a fair amount of admiration for it, though. Your characterization of it as the next stage in the TMG->TGatSD trend, appearing on A&E as the point of transition into becoming "a REALLY good band," is sharp; the TMG comparison especially hits home. For the rest, I have it about the same, lower than anything else on E&A or F&F, at #37. Cold and unlovable, but holy shit the way Craig works around the beat is incredible ("THESE YA YO HOES they TAKE OFF THEIR CLOTHES," "NA-A-sal DRUGS," "a BIN gy BAS ket BAL ler ON a BEAR SKIN RUG RIGHT," etc.). The fact that he can call it "An ode to foam dancing" ( link) with a straight face is just gravy.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 11, 2021 7:26:32 GMT -5
#38: CRUISED AND ACCUSED OF CRUISING
Of all the songs in the catalog, this is a contender for the best match between music and lyrics, in the sense that the music so heavily reflect the mood and themes of the lyrics. This really is the sound of evolving boredom in the back half of the summer, nights turning a little chillier, people walking up and down the boardwalk, sensing that fall iss approaching. It’s light, teasing, careless - I can almost envision the facial expression of this tired, coy girl, smoking a cigarette, half-jokingly, sort of ironic, asking the guy if he’s the one who will take her away, to fortune and fame.
And with so many Craig Finn lyrics, it’s beyond impressive to hear how he construct conversations, with words that people in this universe would actually use, delivered with just the right movie coolness, while still pushing the story ahead. I write this without really digging into the deep narrative stuff, I’m talking more about what you get at face value here. But I still dig it.
It’s not a terribly important or smashing song, but it has this breezy coolness to it that I really like. And it fits perfectly in on the otherwise pretty hectic Fiestas And Fiascos.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Aug 11, 2021 16:52:35 GMT -5
Oh shit, I just now saw this. I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had a chance to visit the forums in a bit. Can't wait to read through your thoughts, man. I'll try to share some of my own in the meantime as you go! I can totally see how this is one of their least interesting tracks, especially to an outsider, but something about their first record has always really stuck with me (I know I've said it a lot on the board before ) Totally agree with how you described that record though, and that's part of why I love it as much as I do. A lot of the tracks on Self-Titled I feel are pretty interesting because it's Craig/the team doing some odd, off-putting, slow, grim-Indie rambling. When I first started listening to them around 2008-2009, I had downloaded a copy of Soft Rock to my iPod but had no real idea what the "true" order of the record was until I finally picked up the CDs a few years later. Didn't even know about Fiestas back then, for whatever reason. But one of the first songs that stuck with me was Lazy Eye of all fucking things (can't wait to see where that is on here). I loved the pre-gap intro to the song (something the streaming versions STILL don't have), the crescendo, everything about it, for being as "cheesy" as could be to my teen self I suppose. Still, I'll totally agree that Half-Dead/E+A/F+F are the strongest records and the ones I'd say are most quintessential LFTR PLLR. Hated that the earlier stuff got the cold-shoulder for being more generic by reviewers—then praise Nassau Coliseum right after for being brilliant. Fuckin' fascinating shit to me back then, can't wait to weird out my next group of friends with it. Stoked to read more Damn, I'm gonna have to put a list together myself at some point. Probably just the titles in order, but still—inspiring. You know, I think my favorite part of this list will be that dichotomy between lyrical and musically-minded approaches. You mention preferring an epic closer, but to me this fits the bill—that chord progression, the squealing tremolos, I love the simplicity of it. I get lost in that drone, I'm hit with all of these thoughts, feelings of nostalgia or bygone times. The imagery of "Stay up if you wanna talk some more" certainly prepares that, then the entire outro is the music-side of Steve/Craig's work speaking to me. Did we talk about Pinkerton when we met in NYC? I feel like we must have, it's one of my other favorite records of all-time as well, coincidentally. I'm curious to know how you feel about the interpretation that "Butterfly" is intentionally discordant with the rest of the album—Rivers was begging for something, a real relationship, tired of having sex, tired of bringing the pity and the pain onto himself. Then, in the aftermath of the climax that is "Falling For You," Rivers rejects his new-found love in realizing that, even if he did want to change, to be a better person, he still remains his . Thematically, it's the track with the most Madame Butterfly influences on its sleeve: the soldier meets the woman, declares love and passion for her, and abandons her, knowing he's going to hurt her but too selfish to care once he knows he'll never see her again. Sure, as an album it may be a slow, calm track for the closer, but thematically it's what I'd call perfect. Another one that I can understand for Rental, I'd agree that it's a fairly slow, piddle-padding track. Probably would be at the bottom even though I still do love their stuff (and that outro!) But Plymouth Rock? Damn. I know it's a fairly short song and can't stand up to other stuff like that, but it's such a perfect little capsule of everything I love about LIFTER PULLER. "She says it's good to get tan," man. That arpeggio that Steve plays, the funky-ass bass line... damn. Still, absolutely loving reading this thread so far Oh, MAN. I believe we likely listened to the same downloaded copy of Soft Rock back in the day, and 11th Ave, much like Lazy Eye, was another one that "stuck" with me when I first went through the record. That guitar bit at the intro is one of my favorite "sounds" they've put ever down, especially with how it meshes with Craig's dazy intro. When I first heard the sax solo, I remember being stunned that they'd put something like this out. At the same time, that was rock to me: sometimes fucking with people. It still served a purpose in the track as to relay the paranoia, confusion, strung-out-ness of it all, so it wasn't thematically or musically out-of-place. But I just knew if any one of my friends heard the track, they'd absolutely hate it. Ah well. I'd mostly agree with what you've said here. There are definitely some hints at things to come that I love in this track—that intro, some of the lines I love, the what almost sounds like a "clap-clap, clap" dance-hall beat in the chorus. Wait, a chorus??? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is the only Lifter Puller track to follow a verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. Very odd for them, for sure. Still, love the outro. I'm totally seeing how hard this list would be to make now. It'd probably be difficult for me to put this higher than other tracks, but it's another one that I love for the unique sounds: that little synth bit that comes in towards the end of Craig's lines. Maybe it was a whole new world for me back then, but it's another one that, while being short and rather simple, I really don't know any other band that could've made something that sounded quite like this. They'd either try something harder, spacier, dreamier, whatever... but LP did grimy, and they did it god-damned good. Pretty fitting description, can't argue much with it. I'd probably have it in a similar spot even though I have that personal connection to it. Perhaps, to me, there's something about that record that feels more personal to me than most later Craig stuff. He's lauded for his storytelling, characters, and whatnot. You and I both love Pinkerton, and part of the reason why I love that record is that he (Rivers) seems to be the main character, being brutally honest, open, even when he's being a total piece of shit. It feels personal, even if some stories are made up or exaggerated, in the same way that "In The Garage" felt personal on the Blue Album. By no means is Lazy Eye close to that level of baring or analyzing oneself in the manner Rivers did with Pinkerton, but there was always a part of me that felt Craig speaking as his college-aged self on that record moreso than trying to be a... well, basically the comic-book writer that he is today. Another tough one for me. Another one that love for the lyrics as well as the "sounds" throughout. That cheap-ass guitar note ringing out after each line, that droning heavy-motherfucker riff behind it. Love is just keepin' a tab.. another cheesy-as-hell line that I love like a good B-movie after all these years. Wasn't one that I was super in-to when I first heard it though, interestingly enough. Edit: just saw skepticat's note about it above, and that's where I'd say I think it's a good listen too, in spite of (or even because of) how off-putting as it is. Another one that I love, again, in part because of those indie-rock tendencies and what these guys in particular are doing to the whole idea. So many references to ideas and images that are certainly in that college-age wheelhouse, like you mention, but juuuust abstracted enough for me to find it incredibly charming. Perhaps it's "Lame-college-art-done-right." Finding that perfect balance of abstract, surreal ideas (naming the track 'Slips Backwards', more grimy lyrical imagery with "jammin to my tape deck, lookin for my paycheck, lookin' for some car sex, checkin' every car wreck with baited breath". That fine line between "This is silly kitschy college rock nonsense" and "Damn, this is actually pretty cool" is, to me, probably the main reason I enjoy their stuff so much, and nearly every part of both their music and aesthetic says that, even in the photos they often took for the covers of these early singles/the self-titled record. The thing that makes me doubt whether I'm equipped to appreciate what Slips Backwards has to offer is the uncommonly high opinion of Patrick Costello, who knows a thing or two about kickass music. This bit, from Kate Silve's article "The Mystification of Lifter Puller," in the June 2003 issue of Lost Cause, is totally worth a read ( link): Holy shit, this is fascinating. Can't believe I'd never seen it before! Thanks for the link.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 12, 2021 3:47:06 GMT -5
Oh shit, I just now saw this. Nice to see you here, man! I knew you would find this interesting (and potentially frustrating, haha). I'll try to reply to some of your general points: Yes, I know you're very fond of the debut album, and I can totally see why. I'm appreciating it more and more these days, and one of the biggest reasons is this insight in Craig's thinking (seemingly) before he fully adapted the conceptual style - both lyrically and musically. The lyrics are really good, they just don't seem THAT focused, even though all the elements of what was about to come is there. And it's even more obvious that he was yet to take on that extremely confident frontman thing who's so present already from Half Dead And Dynamite. This isn't a dig on neither Craig or Lifter Puller. It's more an aknowledgment of how they on the debut sound like a, eh, normal band. A band, and a singer who was yet to develop into the very singular, tight and conceptual thing they eventually became. I get what you say about that grimy indie style too. For many years, this was pretty much all I listened too, all the way up untill I discovered Hold Steady. That makes it a bit weird going back and discover that Craig had a band who sounded like this too. The first time I heard a full Lifter Puller record, I was about 25 years old, and had ten years with indie rock in the back of my mind. To this day I tend to get my noisy, grimy indie kicks from other bands than Lifter Puller, where everything Lifter Puller and Hold Steady have done after they left that phase, is superior to most of it. If that makes any sense. I think the view on this might be affected of where and when (in our musical lives, so to speak) we were exposed to this music. Coming in earlier, or starting off with the debut rather than Fiestas And Fiascos, I might have though different about this. On the lyrical vs the musical approach to assemble a list like this: I think it's hard for me to separate them, but I try to lean more towards my overall impression of the songs as songs, and that impression will for me alwasy be based more on music than lyrics. I'm veeery invested in digging into lyrics too, and that will certainly affect my views on a song. But the music itself is the base of everything, that's the starting point of the experience, in a way. And I might consciously lean towards this when I'm ranking songs-as-songs too. I guess the borders between all of these approaches are quite blurry, but still. I don't think we got to chat about Pinkerton, but I'd love to pick up on in next time around! It's been one of my favourite records for 20 years now, and it still resonates heavily with me. I get what you say about Butterfly too, and I agree that it fits the concept, that it works as a closer in the conceptual sense. I guess this comes back to the music-first approach, where I just crave more, or something harder to close off a hard and raw record. Have to think a little bit more abot what I actually mean here (and while I need to sort out my thoughts first, I think this is something so nuanced that I struggle a little bit with the language thing - it's just hard to fully express my thoughts in english). About chourses and Lifter Puller: I think Perscription Sunglasses qualify. "Everytime her names comes up..." Great to see you in the thread, I guess you'll have some thoughts on the rest of the list too!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 12, 2021 8:17:35 GMT -5
#37: MICK'S TAPE
Mick’s Tape is of many west coast themed songs in the catalog, a motif who would be continued in Hold Steady, and even finding some new prominence as late as Open Door Policy (with Lanyards as the prime example, and maybe the song (on the surface level, at least) most lyrically connected to this song). I like how it musically plays this up, or at least that’s what it sounds like to me. Maybe not west coast in the traditional musical sense, but there’s a light, holiday-like hum throughout the song, who alludes “jetting off to the coast” in some way.
It’s a light song, in the way that it doesn’t bring the drama or the high stakes, it’s sound wise more of a postcard, an apostrophe to the more dramatical turning points in this tale. I like how they turn it up a little notch in the very last part of the song, with the quite simple stop/start thing who backs up “Twin cities, they’re…”. And it’s generally a pleasant song, poppy and bright, with a little fuzz on top of it.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 12, 2021 8:18:00 GMT -5
#36: HARDWARE (Edit: Finally realized I've titled this entry wrong, so: HARDWEAR)
There’s some really weird songs in the Lifter Puller catalog, songs twisting and bending and changing all the way through. People have often made a point about the first two Hold Steady records being mostly chours-less, that they in a Dylan like way is two or three verses, and/or a change of different parts, neither of which can be called verses, bridges or chourses. This is clearly something Hold Steady have in common with Lifter Puller, who have plenty of songs who’s mostly one short song paired with a freaked-out outro, or a completely different part, stiched onto the end (or the beginning).
When I started compiling this list my internal memory of Hardware was of just it’s first part, that soaring, slick Charlemagne In Sweatpants-like part, with the seemingly tounge-in-cheek lyrics of the handjob at the hardware store. But as I went to back to it, I realized how much I like the two parts succeding it. The “swinging from the porches” part takes the song down, and pushes the pause button on the events unfolding, before the last part adds tons of subdued energy, a subtle description of things tightening up, getting increasingly more intense - before everything ends on the vague, yet understandable “that didn’t seem like fifteen beers”.
It’s one of the song who showcases how Lifter Puller were growing as a band, adding more layers in both sound and mood. The way they suddenly are able to dispense energy, dripping it out in a controlled but engaging way, is really something to pay attention to.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Aug 12, 2021 11:44:10 GMT -5
I do absolutely agree that the later records are more "Lifter Puller"—more unique, more "theirs." If I absolutely had to pick just one record for any new fan to hear, it'd probably be Half-Dead. Well shit, maybe Fiestas on certain days (I will say I've actually had some luck with people liking Fiestas for being sooo wild when they first hear it). Having that downloaded version of Soft Rock when I first listened to them, I wasn't even aware that the first record was something so disparate. Maybe that's why when I saw all the criticism for it I was so surprised: "Whaat? You mean people don't like "Double Straps?" But especially following on listening to Soft Rock's Singles/ Half-Dead/ E&A/ Self-Titled in order, I could see why it's a bit lame, especially if you just had the CDs in your car or something back in the day. I think the biggest reason I always wanted to defend the first record was because there was already so little discussion around Lifter Puller back when I really got into them. It seemed like whenever I saw any mention of Self-Titled, it was so dismissive, typically writing the record off as "generic college indie rock," which was odd to me because as you've said here, it is the roots from which we'd see such a unique band grow. The typical more-generic, less interesting starting record -> more unique, more focused sophomore effort. Oh shit, I just now saw this. Nice to see you here, man! I knew you would find this interesting (and potentially frustrating, haha). Hah, I promise it's not frustrating at all. I totally appreciate seeing and hearing everyone's views on this band, and I find myself agreeing with a lot of it. So many songs where I'm like "really?? That low?" and then go "Oh shit yeah, with only 57~ songs or so it's hard to rank 'em." Really, really great stuff. And as for Butterfly, I can agree that it serves a more conceptual or thematic purpose to the record, rather than as an individual song. It's beautiful, but if it were to come up on shuffle or something in the car, it may not work as well without the big climax of Falling For You to contrast it beforehand. Either way, I love reading this stuff man. I'll be keeping an eye on it for sure! Both such great songs. For whatever reason, they're another example of the "weirder" ones I really latched onto back when I was first listening to them. Makes sense for them to be down here, but still has some of my favorite guitar "sounds" on both tracks. Craig's lines about "Dressed like a pirate with a head full of amyls/And a gun full of ammo, keep to the bathroom" and that friggin' great little bass moment that happens right after: amazing shit.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 12, 2021 15:35:41 GMT -5
Craig's lines about "Dressed like a pirate with a head full of amyls/And a gun full of ammo, keep to the bathroom" and that friggin' great little bass moment that happens right after: amazing shit. That's a very good example of something quite unique for Lifter Puller, and something they do in every other song: To quite subtle, and with just small changes to rythm, guitar sounds or Craig's vocal style (both pace and voice), just turn up the heat, add intensity. There's so many songs in the catalog with these chilling mood shifts, where things go from bad to worse, from hot to hot as hell. And I really like that ability.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Aug 12, 2021 18:24:14 GMT -5
Damn, now that I'm trying to organize a bit of a list myself (just dragging and dropping as I go), I do totally see how hard it is for sure—It'd be hard for me to put anything at the bottom other than some of those tracks.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 17, 2021 1:33:29 GMT -5
#35: DOUBLE STRAPS
I admit I was a little bit uncertain if Double Straps deserved to be this high on the list. It’s a song pretty representative for the self-titled album, in the way that it’s a bit half-baked and lacks some confidence.
But after spending quite some time with the album the past months, I’ve grown to like it a lot. It’s a pretty great opener, realy, a bit muted, but with intensity and aggression lurking just beneath the surface. There’s also a pretty perfect interplay between the music and the lyrics. I feel that “I came in to the city…” 100% in the tip-toeing indie rock.
The latter part of the song seems almost dream-like, as Craig add more and more words, just letting it flow. He sounds like he gets lost in the groove, and just keep spinning out his memories of events who once unfolded. And it sets time and space in a great way.
It could have ranked a little bit lower, but the way it works as an opening track and a scene-setter makes me appreciate it a whole lot.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 17, 2021 6:32:00 GMT -5
#38: CRUISED AND ACCUSED OF CRUISINGOf all the songs in the catalog, this is a contender for the best match between music and lyrics, in the sense that the music so heavily reflect the mood and themes of the lyrics. ... And it fits perfectly in on the otherwise pretty hectic Fiestas And Fiascos. These are both really good observations. Leaving aside all the questions of narrative interpretation, what I love about this song is the narrative *excitement*; a brief window opens up in the middle of the album and there's this casual vignette, dissipated, funny, bored, and then things get kinda strange, and then things get suddenly menacing. I can't think of anything in the world like it: it starts off, maybe, like the punk answer to talking blues, but it heads straight out into its own single-minded style and never looks back. #17 on my list. It's also true that that little window turns out to be the entrance to Hades: the connections of CaAoC to The Flex And The Buff Result and To Live And Die In LBI are the first aha-moments, the first steps out of the sunlight into the unfolding Labyrinth of the story, and I love it for that reason too. But I've tried to ignore that perspective for the purposes of my ranking, to just weigh the thrill you get from hearing the song and the strange tale it tells for the first time.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 17, 2021 6:48:28 GMT -5
#37: MICK'S TAPEMick’s Tape is of many west coast themed songs in the catalog, a motif who would be continued in Hold Steady, and even finding some new prominence as late as Open Door Policy (with Lanyards as the prime example, and maybe the song (on the surface level, at least) most lyrically connected to this song). I like how it musically plays this up, or at least that’s what it sounds like to me. Maybe not west coast in the traditional musical sense, but there’s a light, holiday-like hum throughout the song, who alludes “jetting off to the coast” in some way. It’s a light song, in the way that it doesn’t bring the drama or the high stakes, it’s sound wise more of a postcard, an apostrophe to the more dramatical turning points in this tale. I like how they turn it up a little notch in the very last part of the song, with the quite simple stop/start thing who backs up “Twin cities, they’re…”. And it’s generally a pleasant song, poppy and bright, with a little fuzz on top of it. Your last observation is a great point: the way the poppiness of "twin cities ... ganging up on me lately" maps directly onto the naked distress of the end of Math Is Money is kind of a sentimental ambush, a reminder that you can never relax in Lifter Puller world, even when things are at their most cheerful and sunny. (That the revelation of this distressed reality comes in a song that was only recorded several years later is just extra fun.) Apart from that, it's a super catchy tune and a nice change of pace from the heavy surrounding material. I have it --- second-highest of the four "Half Dead Demos" after 11AF --- at #25.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 17, 2021 7:00:23 GMT -5
#36: HARDWARE... It’s one of the song who showcases how Lifter Puller were growing as a band, adding more layers in both sound and mood. The way they suddenly are able to dispense energy, dripping it out in a controlled but engaging way, is really something to pay attention to. Not a favorite song by any means, but 1) the interplay of music and lyric is pretty great, throughout the middle of the song especially: the staccatos of "with a head full of amyls and a gun full of ammo," or the internal rhymes of "viking" and "biking," "metaphor" and "quick divorce" ... really impressive construction. 2) even making allowances for the "thinking things are funny when they really ain't that funny" quality of Craig's stuff, it's a really funny song. The "that dint seem like fifteen beers" ending, with the full-bore Minnesota dint, still makes me laugh. #45 for me.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 17, 2021 7:31:44 GMT -5
#35: DOUBLE STRAPSI admit I was a little bit uncertain if Double Straps deserved to be this high on the list. It’s a song pretty representative for the self-titled album, in the way that it’s a bit half-baked and lacks some confidence. But after spending quite some time with the album the past months, I’ve grown to like it a lot. It’s a pretty great opener, realy, a bit muted, but with intensity and aggression lurking just beneath the surface. There’s also a pretty perfect interplay between the music and the lyrics. I feel that “I came in to the city…” 100% in the tip-toeing indie rock. The latter part of the song seems almost dream-like, as Craig add more and more words, just letting it flow. He sounds like he gets lost in the groove, and just keep spinning out his memories of events who once unfolded. And it sets time and space in a great way. It could have ranked a little bit lower, but the way it works as an opening track and a scene-setter makes me appreciate it a whole lot. Emphatically agree with everything you say here. You've written before about how different songs are indelibly connected to different locations for you; for me, Double Straps will always be associated with this one spring morning at around quarter after 5... It was barely light, I was in the car driving down to the gym, the only car on the road, and I had the back half of Soft Rock on, listening to Let's Get Incredible and trying to wake up. I hadn't been listening to Lifter Puller long, and I'd probably only listened to the first album twice, not really being interested in it for its own sake. And then Double Straps came on, with those wicked drums announcing what's to come, and the opening lines, and it hit me: this is actually a pretty great song. I got to my destination, parked, and just sat in the car listening to the rest of it. Always think of that corner down in Central Square whenever I hear it in my head. That was a watershed in my appreciation of the first album, and in the end I have Double Straps as just the fifth-highest-ranked of all the songs on it. But I still have it pretty high, up at #28.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 17, 2021 13:22:05 GMT -5
You've written before about how different songs are indelibly connected to different locations for you; for me, Double Straps will always be associated with this one spring morning at around quarter after 5... It was barely light, I was in the car driving down to the gym, the only car on the road, and I had the back half of Soft Rock on, listening to Let's Get Incredible and trying to wake up. I hadn't been listening to Lifter Puller long, and I'd probably only listened to the first album twice, not really being interested in it for its own sake. And then Double Straps came on, with those wicked drums announcing what's to come, and the opening lines, and it hit me: this is actually a pretty great song. I got to my destination, parked, and just sat in the car listening to the rest of it. Always think of that corner down in Central Square whenever I hear it in my head. That was a watershed in my appreciation of the first album, and in the end I have Double Straps as just the fifth-highest-ranked of all the songs on it. But I still have it pretty high, up at #28. Always love to hear stories like that! Lifter Puller is a band who's strangely disconnected from time and place for me, maybe because I've discovered them over such a long period of time. It's a little strange to think of, really. While some bands (like Hold Steady) came on like a burst, instantly changing my life, there's some bands who've lurked around forever, untill I finally realize how great they are. And/or who keeps growing in a way that make me appreciate different aspects of the band, in different phases of my life. Silver Jews have always been the prime example of this kind of band to me. I first heard them back in 2003, and kept listening to them on and off for years. I don't think I got to the affection I have for them now until 2015-16, something like that. But when I think of it, Lifter Puller is a little bit like the same thing. For a long time they were this good-but-not-amazing band that preceeded Hold Steady. Then, somewhere around the hiatus before Teeth Dreams (which I keep reminding myself was -longer- than the hiatus between Teeth Dreams and Entitlement Crew), they kind of took over, in the sense that I listened a lot more to HDAD and F&F than to any Hold Steady record. The final level of appreciation was probably reached in 2021, pretty much because of Alright Alright, and the way that thread made me a) listen to old favourites in a new way, but maybe most importantly b) really got me into the debut album. That's a long digression to the point I was originally about to make: That it's hard for me to accurately rate those s/t songs. They way I hear them now, is still pretty new to me, and it feels weird comparing them to songs I've loved for a decade. If there's anything about this ranking I expect to change in a major way a year or two down the line, it's my evaluation of those songs.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Aug 17, 2021 14:14:33 GMT -5
I suppose that all ties into the reason I now have that reputation for being the "self-titled" guy, but even reading this thread has made me really evaluate it in the greater context of Lifter Puller rather than always saying "Hey, this is just a great album, dammit." Several of the songs are at the bottom of my list, and even some of the tracks I teased about your placement before I'm now evaluating even lower—and isn't that friggin' baffling.
But, I do have four of the tracks in my top 20—and two in my top 10, of all things. Still really thinking about where I'd put everything, though...
Although, I do think "Rental" will end up being the bottom of the list. I've probably said it elsewhere on this board sometime in the past decade or so, but for me one of the realizations I had with Lifter Puller back in... '14 or '15 or so, when I really got into full-on fanatic mode, was that so many of my other "favorite" albums were filled with songs that I liked, but usually a few that I could do without, that I could skip. But, when listening to these records, there was always *something* to every single song on the tracklist that would pull me in, every time. Even re-listening to Rental as I wrote this, I find little parts that I get excited to hear again throughout.
Speaking of "accurate" rating: as I was making my list, I found myself in a similar situation. I was constantly fighting between the "qualities" upon which to rank each track: lyrical meaning, musical qualities, personal connections and stories, or even "What song best represents Lifter Puller as a piece, as a movement." I recall a defining moment for introducing Lifter Puller to some college friends half-a-decade back—a quiet ride home in my car, friends in the backseat, listening to "The Flex and the Buff Result." That sort of slap-in-the-face moment at the end got them more interested in knowing just what the fuck this band was doing, what they had to say, moreso than most of my experiences ranting and raving about "The Pirate And The Penpal" or whatever for the tenth time that week.
Anyways, I'm still very much enjoying the thread. Reading your rationale behind each track is great, and I'm super hyped to see what's next!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 17, 2021 15:32:22 GMT -5
Speaking of "accurate" rating: as I was making my list, I found myself in a similar situation. I was constantly fighting between the "qualities" upon which to rank each track: lyrical meaning, musical qualities, personal connections and stories, or even "What song best represents Lifter Puller as a piece, as a movement." Exactly - and that's really the whole point, haha. The list is just a veichle to re-think stuff about music I love, a fun way to contextualize it, both for others and myself. And it's really challenging to weigh these kind of things up against each other. I think I'll write something a little more fleshed-out about it when we approach the top 10, but I've found it extremely, and also surprisingly hard to decide on my very favourite Lifter Puller songs. Not just song vs song, but entire groups of songs. It wasn't like that when I was compiling the THS list, not at all. I have a few thoughts about why it's so, but I think I'll save them for later. Great to hear you enjoy the thread!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 17, 2021 15:35:15 GMT -5
#34: PRESCRIPTION SUNGLASSES
It’s always something special about going back to the very first song of a band’s catalog. I wouldn’t know for sure if this is the first song they recorded, but the first release is always interesting anyway.
I could add more weight to it than it deserves, simply because of this, but I really think it’s a damn fine rock’n’roll song. It has a lot the same vibe as the songs who ended up on the debut album, the slightly subdued and muted feeling, but it’s also pretty catchy, there’s some dark pop in here somewhere. And I think the simple chorus (which I think it’s fair to call it) carries an emotional weight, a coolness with substance, that pushes it a few places up this list. The image of hearing someone’s name getting drowned in the sound of a jet engine, coupled with “pretty little overdoser” is pretty explicit, yet vague.
Even down to the title, it’s cool and laid back, I can envision the band playing this with an adolescent coolness, with sunglasses physically present. And there’s some lines to be drawn to Milkcrate Mosh here too: An opening single not that representative of what was to come, but still with identity and attitude who sets a path.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Aug 18, 2021 4:06:34 GMT -5
#33: KATARINA AND THE K-HOLE
When I first got into Lifter Puller, it was via Fiestas And Fiascos. I think the very first Lifter Puller song I heard was Space Humping $19.99, but it couldn’t have been that long till I first heard the full album (illegaly downloaded, I’ve since bought it on both CD and LP for waaay too many dollars). Falling completely in love with the grandiose romantic excess of Boys And Girls In America, Fiestas wasn’t a very easy listen. It’s hectic, abrassive, raw and very intense. Like a consentrated and frantic version of the rockiest version of Hold Steady. It was hard to really put it into context.
Almost fifteen years later, I think of Fiestas And Fiascos as an extremely well sequenced and tempered masterpiece. Other records, other songs, have taken up more space in my mind in recent years, but the initial rush of really GETTING Fiestas, arriving at a place where I hear it as a fully formed entity, still sits with me.
Which brings me to Katarina And The K-Hole, who’s one of the songs who make up a very well planned and exectued ending of the album, with a near-perfect balance of engaging and fast tracks where the band rock out, and more subtle breathers. This is in the latter category, and it makes the latter part of the album so damn good. The sweeping intro, the birds singing, the cut-up conversation who sets the scene, adds mystery, but also calmness, it anchors the final part of the album in such a good way. This is amplified by the guitars crushing in, and the conversation taking another direction. Like other songs, it feels like an important moment, frozen in time, but painted out in broad strokes in a song.
All this suggest it might should’ve been higher on the list, but as a stand-alone song, there’s plenty of others I put a little higher. I just wanted to aknowledge its importance in the flow of a pretty perfect album.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Aug 18, 2021 8:36:40 GMT -5
#34: PRESCRIPTION SUNGLASSESIt’s always something special about going back to the very first song of a band’s catalog. I wouldn’t know for sure if this is the first song they recorded, but the first release is always interesting anyway. I could add more weight to it than it deserves, simply because of this, but I really think it’s a damn fine rock’n’roll song. It has a lot the same vibe as the songs who ended up on the debut album, the slightly subdued and muted feeling, but it’s also pretty catchy, there’s some dark pop in here somewhere. And I think the simple chorus (which I think it’s fair to call it) carries an emotional weight, a coolness with substance, that pushes it a few places up this list. The image of hearing someone’s name getting drowned in the sound of a jet engine, coupled with “pretty little overdoser” is pretty explicit, yet vague. Even down to the title, it’s cool and laid back, I can envision the band playing this with an adolescent coolness, with sunglasses physically present. And there’s some lines to be drawn to Milkcrate Mosh here too: An opening single not that representative of what was to come, but still with identity and attitude who sets a path. My first experience with Prescription Sunglasses came after my first, and difficult, experience with the self-titled album; going back in time another year, I expected something in the same vein but less polished. So it was a real surprise to encounter, just as you say, a damn fine rock'n'roll song. I actually put it on several times after that, just to try to recapture that "holy shit they did this in 1994" feeling. And "they," of course, was just Dave Gerlach on drums and Craig on guitar/bass/vocals, meaning that Craig wrote the music. What's interesting to me about that is not just the legitimate complexity of what he's doing (multiple instruments, multiple sections), but the way in which the musical composition and the narrative composition work together so closely. Both Prescription Sunglasses and Emperor feature a similar progression: the song starts out in a major key, then shifts to a minor key (Prescription Sunglasses does this twice, in the two verses/two choruses you mention), then moves into a bridge that's got some uncomfortable tension in it, and finally modulates up into a dissonant higher key before ending on an unresolved note. And the narratives of both songs follow a parallel course: the early verses describe a complicated alpha girl situation with attempted detachment and self-possession, then move on to reveal that the underlying problems are persistent and aren't getting solved, and then finally pull back the curtain on a vista of plain dysfunction and frantic hints of worse. The difference between the two is that Prescription Sunglasses is a much rounder, fuller song than Emperor --- as you say, both catchy and cool. And with all that said in its favor, I still have it at #39 (I have Emperor at #52). Final thought: the leaky guitar notes in the intro are kind of great, a foreshadowing almost of the way the song will break down in the final minutes. There's really a lot to observe here.
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