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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 10, 2021 21:00:28 GMT -5
Wow, all the way up at #3. I didn't really see that coming. But I totally agree on how and why Secret Santa Cruz is so great. I obviously have great affection for it too. I think what puts it at #19 rather than top 10 for me, is the same thing I've been writing a lot about, the separation of intellectual impressive and emotionally moving songs. This is a hard, tough, tight and raw song I admire a lot, but there's other songs with a stronger emotional nerve who really gets me in other ways. Gotcha. I guess it's not emotional exactly, but the feeling I get from SSC --- the racing heartbeat and hair standing on end at "i think we're starting to peak," whipsawing into the washed-up wreckage of the final verse --- is one hell of a ride. It's the kind of thing that usually wears off after you hear a song too many times, but somehow this one can still do it. #18: SANGRE DE STEPHANIE... Sangre The Stephanie is more mood than pure melody. The slow, slightly scary builup, and the way it now and then erupts in wide open guitar parts, sounds like a different band, and sort of dips into the not-very-hip, backwards-looking sound that Hold Steady so often dive into. I hear this as a counterpart to the cheesy saxophone on Hostile, Mass or even the sleazy shuffle of Charlemagne In Sweatpants. What really makes this song for me, is the entire “She’s getting stoned when I came down the stairs” part. The sense of drama, the way Craig sounds so fucking tuned in, everything coming into focus. It’s not a flashy musical exhibition, it’s pure vibe, and I love that. I've been thinking about your description of songs that (unusually for Lifter Puller) build up to reveal something more optimistic or positive than they started with; similar to that, what always gets me about Sangre de Stephanie is the way it builds up to what I think is the purest note of *mourning* in the LP catalog. It's a lot like the end of Sweet Payne in that way, only Sweet Payne has the consolation of a kind of glory and distance from the loss that's being recalled, whereas Sangre de Stephanie is all about what we've become & what we are right now, in the full-throated bleakness of "on and on in the breaking dawn." It's not an emotion I experience with pleasure, exactly, but it's a song I respect massively, and one I hear in my head a lot. Right with you on "came down the stairs"; also, the title is amazing, probably tied with "Back In Blackbeard" for best of the bunch after CaAoC/SSC. #24 in my list.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Sept 10, 2021 22:49:35 GMT -5
Just finally got back home to my PC after the past two weeks, and should finally have a chance to respond some more soon! I've still be reading and following along on my phone of course throughout. Really enjoying reading all these opinions
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 16, 2021 14:27:54 GMT -5
Sorry about the pause here, folks. I'm well underway with completing all the texts, but have been pretty busy, both at work and at home the past week. Gonna check back in here over the weekend!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 22, 2021 4:46:13 GMT -5
#17: I LIKE THE LIGHTS
After the initial rush of Fiestas And Fiascos, this was probably the first Lifter Puller song I really fell in love with. I have a vivid memory of blasting it in my Copenhagen appartment, sometime around late winter/early spring of 2010, and just kind of getting that poppy vibe the band was able to wind up. I love that teasing, arpeggio guitar in the intro (it’s always reminded me of a similar guitar part from the Beulah song Silver Lining), and how the entire band (again, to repeat myself) brings a lot of intensity and sense of drama with very subtle tools. When Craig enters the scene with his “Six six six…”, it sounds so great.
It’s a quite laidback song, though. It’s not tough or abrasive, just elegance paired with a buzz. But it’ so god damn COOL. And the lyrics are among my favourites too. Not in the jaw-dropping, revealing sense, but as a character portrait, believable and enjoyable, even without connecting this Jenny girl to the broader narrative. It’s also an early example of one of my Craig Finn hangups, the ability to flesh out a full scene with a snippet from a conversation. Here it is “can’t believe you were crashed out watching some movies” who does it for me. That dry comment, who simultaneously tells us what the she-character just have told the narrator, and the facial expression of the narrator when he answers with “weeell, that can’t be entirely true”. So much in so little.
I could go on about these little lyrical snippets, but I’m just gonna state that I dig almost every single line here.
Once again, we have a song who tells the story of a band maturing and finding its own sound, without compromising on any of their core ideas. I still think this is a nice entry point for people who haven’t heard that much Lifter Puller.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 23, 2021 7:17:57 GMT -5
#16: THE PIRATE AND THE PENPAL
I really, really love The Pirate And The Penpal. To me, it’s a candidate for the warmest, most empathic song in the entire Lifter Puller catalog, a really soft and sweet portrait of someone the narrator of the song really cares about.
There’s a softness to the music too, who really gets me. It’s not a conventional ballad, and there’s grit around the edges, but it’s pretty darn close to a classic, slow rock jam too. Even Craig seems to be on board with this idea, almost crooning, in his own 90s way, in certain parts of the song. There’s not a lot of toughness or panic here, there’s more contemplation and afterthought.
The lyrics contain some absolute gems. “Don’t wear those push-up pants to the football dance/ you got enough nicknames already” is so amazing, saying so much about this girl, her position, self image and way to deal with life. It’s curious and makes you actively think about the scene, while still being intuitively recognizable. And the entire image of the penpal, the way the strawberry money goes to stamps and using the postmaster as an authority to decide whether penpals really can “be going steady” is also extremely good.
Then, of course, the songs ends in a blaze of violence/sirens/silence. The few lines describing the finale of this summer flirt are vague, yet descriptive and specific, they tell us all we need to know about the level of drama, but not enough to really piece the story together - in the same way Craig have done so many times in the couple of decades afterwards. This is essentially the same story told in the final part of Jester & June or the core story of the car ride who ends in a multitude of casualties. There’s strings attached to every single story, alright.
If this had been an integral part of an album I got to experience as an album, it might have felt less impressive. I’ve gotten to know this song as a stand-alone piece of music, a song not embedded in a sequence of an album or as a part of a greater whole. And I think that’s why it stands out as a little gem to me, and why I like it so much too.
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bigontheinside
Midnight Hauler
If you don't know the words, don't sing along
Posts: 1,478
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Post by bigontheinside on Sept 23, 2021 9:11:01 GMT -5
#16: THE PIRATE AND THE PENPALI really, really love The Pirate And The Penpal. To me, it’s a candidate for the warmest, most empathic song in the entire Lifter Puller catalog, a really soft and sweet portrait of someone the narrator of the song really cares about. There’s a softness to the music too, who really gets me. It’s not a conventional ballad, and there’s grit around the edges, but it’s pretty darn close to a classic, slow rock jam too. Even Craig seems to be on board with this idea, almost crooning, in his own 90s way, in certain parts of the song. There’s not a lot of toughness or panic here, there’s more contemplation and afterthought. The lyrics contain some absolute gems. “Don’t wear those push-up pants to the football dance/ you got enough nicknames already” is so amazing, saying so much about this girl, her position, self image and way to deal with life. It’s curious and makes you actively think about the scene, while still being intuitively recognizable. And the entire image of the penpal, the way the strawberry money goes to stamps and using the postmaster as an authority to decide whether penpals really can “be going steady” is also extremely good. Then, of course, the songs ends in a blaze of violence/sirens/silence. The few lines describing the finale of this summer flirt are vague, yet descriptive and specific, they tell us all we need to know about the level of drama, but not enough to really piece the story together - in the same way Craig have done so many times in the couple of decades afterwards. This is essentially the same story told in the final part of Jester & June or the core story of the car ride who ends in a multitude of casualties. There’s strings attached to every single story, alright. If this had been an integral part of an album I got to experience as an album, it might have felt less impressive. I’ve gotten to know this song as a stand-alone piece of music, a song not embedded in a sequence of an album or as a part of a greater whole. And I think that’s why it stands out as a little gem to me, and why I like it so much too. I'm glad to see this song get some love. It's a very deep cut and one that I've only discovered lately. There's so many great parts to it - the backup vocal ahhhhh's at the end, the way Craig sings "the bathtub and the raaain", the filter on his voice in the chorus, it's excellent.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Sept 23, 2021 21:28:57 GMT -5
#16: THE PIRATE AND THE PENPAL I was curious where this one was gonna pop up, and am blown away to see its warm reception here or anywhere else. It was one of the first tracks I really stuck with all those years ago, riding the bus—much like 'Lazy Eye', a bit too out-of-the-way to ever see any positive discussion about it in the community back then. All of the little rhythms to the verses, as you've mentioned. The outro, the backing vocals there. The wavering synth holding out. It's so out-of-place for a Lifter Puller song, and I dig the insight that it probably wouldn't be as interesting if it was just sitting on an album somewhere, and being a prototypical Finn solo song almost in its depiction of characters far removed from the usual THS/LFTR PLLR epoch. Or maybe its just that goddamn little 2-note guitar line that plays after the "slips through your hands 'cause you buy too many stamps" and other moments, it stuck with me almost instantly—one of my favorite musical moments from the whole catalogue. Great to see. I'd love to know what the guys think about seeing this so high as well—I think I asked Craig about it during the Living Room Tour when I first got the chance to speak to him, although all I really asked was "did you guys ever play it live?" and he said "yeah." Would love to have a recording of it like we do some of the self-titled tracks.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 24, 2021 5:06:26 GMT -5
#15: LIE DOWN ON LANDSDOWNE
Another pretty tough one to rank. There’s many songs, even on Fiestas And Fiascos, who’s more monumental, more emotionally huge in some sense. But Landsdowne is just a damn fine rock song, and the way it’s both composed and performed, is so solid, so tight.
And even though it’s not huge in a traditional sense, it has this ability to build momentum and some drama too. The intro feels very much like being thrown into the midst of things, not at a crucial crossroad, but into the everyday struggle of these characters. And when the band blast into the “Down by the docks…” part, the heat is turned on for real, I love that part.
To me, this is maybe first and foremost one of very few songs I’ve enjoyed socially. I haven’t that many friends who’s into Lifter Puller, but all the way back in 2009-10 I remember playing this song at some party, and a friend of mine screaming along to every single word of it. And that counts for something.
Also: One of not-that-many songs who’s explicitly referenced in a Hold Steady lyric too. The line about lying down on Landsdowne in For Boston can’t be a coincidence.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 25, 2021 11:26:18 GMT -5
#17: I LIKE THE LIGHTS... It’s a quite laidback song, though. It’s not tough or abrasive, just elegance paired with a buzz. But it’ so god damn COOL. And the lyrics are among my favourites too. Not in the jaw-dropping, revealing sense, but as a character portrait, believable and enjoyable, even without connecting this Jenny girl to the broader narrative. It’s also an early example of one of my Craig Finn hangups, the ability to flesh out a full scene with a snippet from a conversation. Here it is “can’t believe you were crashed out watching some movies” who does it for me. That dry comment, who simultaneously tells us what the she-character just have told the narrator, and the facial expression of the narrator when he answers with “weeell, that can’t be entirely true”. So much in so little. ... Once again, we have a song who tells the story of a band maturing and finding its own sound, without compromising on any of their core ideas. I still think this is a nice entry point for people who haven’t heard that much Lifter Puller. For me too it's an early reference point, in the first place because you quoted it in the Here Goes thread, and then because I recognized it from your post when I started listening to Lifter Puller. I think it's a little too easy for me to take the lyrics of this one for granted, which are fantastic, starting with "and you said it was nothing" and continuing pretty much uninterrupted from there. But I'm trying to keep my rankings focused primarily on the criterion of what I most like listening to, the things I like to hear, and the thoroughly laid-back quality you describe kind of limits its upside for me. Embarrassed, as usual, to say that I have it at #34, though that's right above The Gin and the Sour Defeat, The Candy Machine and My Girlfriend, and Roaming the Foam, so hardly faint praise! #16: THE PIRATE AND THE PENPALI really, really love The Pirate And The Penpal. To me, it’s a candidate for the warmest, most empathic song in the entire Lifter Puller catalog, a really soft and sweet portrait of someone the narrator of the song really cares about. ... If this had been an integral part of an album I got to experience as an album, it might have felt less impressive. I’ve gotten to know this song as a stand-alone piece of music, a song not embedded in a sequence of an album or as a part of a greater whole. And I think that’s why it stands out as a little gem to me, and why I like it so much too. I wish tableinthecorner was around for this, he had very high praise for TPatP, and would confirm your collective instinct that this is a favorite, despite being socked away among the outtakes. For me, the warmth of it comes at the price of a certain lack of energy or focus, the very things that pull me in to Lifter Puller with an avid ear; I've got it down at #38, my least favorite listen of the four tracks that didn't make HDaD. What I *do* love about it is the whole getaway finale, with "highway barricades" being one of the top two or three a-ha moments in the whole catalog; but I've deliberately tried to play down the weight of those narrative considerations in my ranking. What a great band this is, that these kinds of choices have to be made ...
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 25, 2021 12:16:04 GMT -5
#15: LIE DOWN ON LANDSDOWNEAnother pretty tough one to rank. There’s many songs, even on Fiestas And Fiascos, who’s more monumental, more emotionally huge in some sense. But Landsdowne is just a damn fine rock song, and the way it’s both composed and performed, is so solid, so tight. And even though it’s not huge in a traditional sense, it has this ability to build momentum and some drama too. The intro feels very much like being thrown into the midst of things, not at a crucial crossroad, but into the everyday struggle of these characters. And when the band blast into the “Down by the docks…” part, the heat is turned on for real, I love that part. To me, this is maybe first and foremost one of very few songs I’ve enjoyed socially. I haven’t that many friends who’s into Lifter Puller, but all the way back in 2009-10 I remember playing this song at some party, and a friend of mine screaming along to every single word of it. And that counts for something. Also: One of not-that-many songs who’s explicitly referenced in a Hold Steady lyric too. The line about lying down on Landsdowne in For Boston can’t be a coincidence. Been wondering where this one would show up! Lie Down On Landsdowne is my #1. LDoL, for me, is a lot like Secret Santa Cruz: mesmerizing, exhausting, elating. We talked above about songs that end more positively (as positive goes in the Lifter Puller world) than they began; the way LDoL opens out into an ecstatic and totally objective embrace of what the kids have become makes it, in my book, the top of that class. There's no story here: it's all image and lyric and wordplay, but holy fuck, look at what's on display. The whole baseball theme, with the elided Fenway Park on Lansdowne street, the H and the K, the queue of guys, the hits and misses, etc., woven into the literal themes of drugs and sex and badness, is just incredible. Like you, I love the chaos that starts with "down by the docks," that whole verse is a masterpiece of power in images and verbal sound. But what's especially hard to describe is what happens at the end. All through the first two verses, the music (the bass, the synths, the drums) is just powering up and up, gathering itself for what's to come; and then, after a final coil through the "bars and scars and tar" part we hit the whole scumbags/junk jags/rock rags thing. For me, the way Craig takes these same words repeated over and over and loads them with such variety, is a picture of him at his best: not because these are his best lyrics, but because the guy's delivery is so incredible that he doesn't need anything but a handful of syllables and the lift of the tune to create total exaltation. And then the second ending (like in Sweet Payne, to similarly catapulting effect) with "jet lag" etc. ... man. Gets me every time.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 25, 2021 16:41:16 GMT -5
I guess I'll add one more thing about LDoL, and about that ending: namely, that the effect it has on me is partly due to having come to Lifter Puller *after* The Hold Steady, where "who we are" is an expressly difficult thing to come to terms with:
Maybe our anxiety lives in the spaces in between who we really are and what we want to be and the things that we let other people see [Spectres]
or (to take an example from a setting that sounds a lot like the one in LDoL):
We were hanging at a rock and roll club It was painted just like hell The bar was plywood painted black They have skull mugs up on the shelves They throw such killer parties But some nights you don't feel so well But you shouldn't be the singer in a be yourself band If you don't want to be yourself [GoaH]
LDoL, on the other hand, has dispensed with all that anxiety and unwell feeling, and even with the mourning of "we're budweiser we're benzedrine" [SdS]; in its ecstatic finale, it's reached a level of frankness that feels like liberation. Even if we know it isn't quite.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 28, 2021 14:30:14 GMT -5
Been wondering where this one would show up! Lie Down On Landsdowne is my #1 Wow! I did not see that coming. I guess I could have read something between the lines in Alright Alright, but it wasn't a song I was considered being someones absolute favorite. It will probably make me listen to it with a different perspective next time around, haha.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 28, 2021 14:31:11 GMT -5
#14: LA QUEREIRA
I think La Quereria at the same time is one of Lifter Puller’s most subtle, and yet most cinematic and bombastic songs. It’s not unique to mash these two entities into one single song, but after the short and hectic career of the band, this sure feels like some next level shit, and as a symbol of how far they had travelled, and what things might have looked like if they stayed together.
The first part of the song is detatched, muted and weird, dream-like but still realistic. The theme is bleak as ever, with the kids looking like corpses, looking even deeper into the abyss created by their own lifestyle, and Craig sounds like he’s singing from some place far away. Then, everything opens up in the most widescreen sense, both lyrically and musically. It’s cinematic in the real sense of the word, actions forming into narratives and plots, very specific, but also anchored in something bigger. It all comes together in the very Craig-y and very much perfect lines “First there’s violence, then there’s silence, then there’s sirens/ and violins”. Real scene cues, in some sense. The guitars ring out in huge chords, and there’s more warmth and big-stuff-at-stake here then ever.
In many ways, this is one of the purest Hold Steady precursors. The sense of drama, the big-scope narration style, the romanticism and sentimentality all points towards the empathy of songs like First Night or Killer Parties. And the narrative fingerspitzgefühl reminds me of Most People are DJs or even some of the songs on Open Door Policy. This is where Craig, maybe for the first time, takes a step back, and describes the scene as an observer. And in a way, that feels in sync with the music, who alludes fiction, big screen narrative and more of a distance. This isn’t street life turned into art, a very specific tale turned into narratives turned into songs. It’s the feeling of something bigger, displayed in a way that’s universal recognizable, to a broader audience.
With this praise, you’d might think I rate it even higher. But as with some other songs, I feel it’s almost a little too Lifter Puller-y to compete for the top ten spots. It’s an amazing song, and I’m glad that we got it, but even though it’s pretty much perfect, I get an even huger kick from other sides of the band.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 29, 2021 15:17:51 GMT -5
#13: STAR WARS HIPS
When I put Star Wars Hips on #13, I imagined myself making some sort of separation between the s/t and the Entertainment And Arts version. But when we’re finally here, I think the fact that there exist two pretty much equally good versions of this, is a big part of the appeal.
Cause where the earliest version offer in it’s ramshackle, yet focused fuzzy pop sound, the latter slows everything down, and displays the internal drama of these characters. It’s weird how the same songs with the same chords, played at a different tempo, gives totally different experiences, and sheds different lights on the lyrics on the top of them. It’s not oceans between them, but I still feel the s/t version have an element of rushing through the scene, without too much afterthought, while the latter suggest that the characters understand more about the consequenses and reach of their actions. And it reaches a climax in the slow, dragged out “Guess you heard about the nightclub fires/ I got two big scoops” part, where I really get the feeling that this shit is important, it’s real-life drama, not just a random encounter with the cops.
And I do have to admit that a) the lyrics, and b) the off-stage comment from Craig that this is where the story really starts, is what makes this song a top 10 contender. I’m not sure if it’s fair, but it’s certainly the way I feel. Just the knowledge that the genius mind behind these tales pinpoints this as a valid starting point, gives the song a weight and meaning beyond the sounds we hear.
There’s other songs further below the list who maybe thrill me more, but this still feels special in some sense.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Sept 29, 2021 19:34:43 GMT -5
Two tracks that would've been super tough to rank, for sure. La Quereria might compete for my favorite of the more dramatic, slow-burner tracks in the entire discography, and it's great that we have a live version of a B-side/Soft Rock track like that from the Brownies show in 2000.
Star Wars Hips was always a tough one as well—Craig's words as you mentioned have always given it an insane amount of weight in their catalogue, and I'd be lying if I said the "Two big scoops: it wasn't just an accident / This is not coincidence" still wasn't one of my favorite lines of theirs. Still, I'd totally agree with their position outside of the top 10.
Same feeling with the "Violence > Silence > Sirens >Violence / Violins" lines. It was always such a goddamned brilliant little balance of what I'd probably feel was a cheesy-as-hell line from damn near anyone else. Something about Lifter Puller's ability to say some rather out-there shit without breaking face once throughout every album is part of what really drew me to them back in the day.
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 29, 2021 20:13:25 GMT -5
#14: LA QUEREIRAI think La Quereria at the same time is one of Lifter Puller’s most subtle, and yet most cinematic and bombastic songs. It’s not unique to mash these two entities into one single song, but after the short and hectic career of the band, this sure feels like some next level shit, and as a symbol of how far they had travelled, and what things might have looked like if they stayed together. Wholeheartedly agree with this --- it's not my favorite song among the last five tracks, but that next-level complexity is real. The thing about La Quereria that really stands out to me is that first verse ("Undisclosed sources ... nike air forces"), which is some kind of master class in meter, diction, rhyme, and alliteration with almost nothing except a beat to work off of. Total tour de force. These characteristics put it above other tracks from the same era (BiB, for example), but having said that it's still not a listen I much look forward to. With the usual protest of embarrassment, #30 for me. Two tracks that would've been super tough to rank, for sure. La Quereria might compete for my favorite of the more dramatic, slow-burner tracks in the entire discography, and it's great that we have a live version of a B-side/Soft Rock track like that from the Brownies show in 2000. Whoa! didn't know about that. Got a link by any chance?
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 29, 2021 20:21:34 GMT -5
#13: STAR WARS HIPSWhen I put Star Wars Hips on #13, I imagined myself making some sort of separation between the s/t and the Entertainment And Arts version. But when we’re finally here, I think the fact that there exist two pretty much equally good versions of this, is a big part of the appeal. Cause where the earliest version offer in it’s ramshackle, yet focused fuzzy pop sound, the latter slows everything down, and displays the internal drama of these characters. It’s weird how the same songs with the same chords, played at a different tempo, gives totally different experiences, and sheds different lights on the lyrics on the top of them. It’s not oceans between them, but I still feel the s/t version have an element of rushing through the scene, without too much afterthought, while the latter suggest that the characters understand more about the consequenses and reach of their actions. And it reaches a climax in the slow, dragged out “Guess you heard about the nightclub fires/ I got two big scoops” part, where I really get the feeling that this shit is important, it’s real-life drama, not just a random encounter with the cops. And I do have to admit that a) the lyrics, and b) the off-stage comment from Craig that this is where the story really starts, is what makes this song a top 10 contender. I’m not sure if it’s fair, but it’s certainly the way I feel. Just the knowledge that the genius mind behind these tales pinpoints this as a valid starting point, gives the song a weight and meaning beyond the sounds we hear. There’s other songs further below the list who maybe thrill me more, but this still feels special in some sense. Yeah, this is a special one, very much for the reasons you mention. I like the draggy drums of the E&A version (and the double-draggy vocals: "... stay inside"), but much prefer the s/t version overall; it's got that jaunty "ok kids! storytime, here we go" energy that reinforces those same special qualities. I can't really separate all the memorable lines from my habit of seeing it as the Origin story, but it does feel unusually rich with them. #27 for me, right above Double Straps and right below Jeep Beep Suite, and a steady reminder of just how good that first album really is.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Sept 29, 2021 22:21:53 GMT -5
Two tracks that would've been super tough to rank, for sure. La Quereria might compete for my favorite of the more dramatic, slow-burner tracks in the entire discography, and it's great that we have a live version of a B-side/Soft Rock track like that from the Brownies show in 2000. Whoa! didn't know about that. Got a link by any chance? By chance, I actually originally accessed it in this thread here from Soniclovenoize—or it may have been from someone else who had downloaded it, actually, as I'd be surprised if that mediafire link was still there when I would've finally found it back in 2015 or so. I did upload the files here, at my dropbox. If there's any trouble with sharing these let me know. La Quereria was specifically played during the recording of "Live at Brownies 3_30_00".
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Post by skepticatfirst on Sept 30, 2021 7:37:23 GMT -5
You're awesome, man, thank you! Listening to it right now ... the ending to this version is intense. Really curious to hear the rest of these, probably 75% I've never heard before. Much appreciated!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 30, 2021 14:23:36 GMT -5
Same feeling with the "Violence > Silence > Sirens >Violence / Violins" lines. It was always such a goddamned brilliant little balance of what I'd probably feel was a cheesy-as-hell line from damn near anyone else. Something about Lifter Puller's ability to say some rather out-there shit without breaking face once throughout every album is part of what really drew me to them back in the day. It's all about context to me. Lines that easily could have sounded like a blunt cliché from another band, takes on a greater meaning when the songwriter so obviously is amazingly great at what he does. I'm not sure if that's fair, cause great writers could totally write cheesy or shallow lines from time to time. But with Craig's entire body of work to look back on, I just can't bring myself to think anything other that even the cheesy stuff are there for a reason. It's an interesting parallell to Frank Turner somewhere in this. At some point he made a career out of turning motivational poster slogans into rock anthems. He got away with it when he did it over really good songs, and with engagement and intensity, but fell completely through as soon as the musical energy disappeared.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Sept 30, 2021 14:24:12 GMT -5
#12: THE LANGELOS
It’s a bit hard for me to really describe what makes The Langelos Lifter Pullers 12th best song, and I admit that it could be a controversial ranking. But there’s something in the insisting groove of the song who hit me really hard about a decade ago, and have stuck with me since.
There’s something like a purpose or a strong will at the core of the song, a feeling of both the band and the characters inhabiting the world Craig’s creating, facing the world head-on. I think it’s encapsulated in the very opening riff of the song, both stern and urgent, very forward-moving. And it’s picked up now and then during the slightly more meandering verses, in a subtle start/stop motion that slowly builds momentum.
But there’s also fear, paranoia and a sense of displacement here. Like a narrator on a mission into the unknown, with danger looming over his head, but still committed to finish what he started. “Can’t you tell that these helicopters haunt me?” he notes in a dry way, almost as a digression. This is put into relief by the ever-shifting power balance between cats and rats, situated either inside houses or out in the streets. It’s a simple, but very effective image to me.
I think a part of my fascination with the song stems from listening to it while reading a novel which felt very much in sync with this image, while both the song and novel reminded me of someone close to me who got lost between street rats and house cats. And that surely add to my own personal relationship with the song.
Mostly, though, it’s about that groove and the mood it creates. There’s lots of songs more flashy or emotional, but everytime The Langelos come on, it gives me an enormous pleasure. So, #12 it is.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Oct 5, 2021 15:05:02 GMT -5
Definitely a surprise to see such a high ranking for that one, but it's certainly another one of the odd-ball tracks I really enjoyed as well. I was always drawn to the fairly unique sound and rhythm, especially during that opener as you mention. Back in the day of listening to Soft Rock (before I even knew that they were compiled on "Slips Backwards") I always loved the flow of those last few tracks, even before I really knew that they were separate from Half-Dead and Dynamite. Even back then I was fascinated at the ability of every single song on the record to have such a unique sound (even with a guitar tone that might be seen as simple or even "generic" in some other context). It would definitely be difficult for me to rate it above 11th Ave, Mick's Tape, or Pirate/Penpal still, but they're all great friggin' tracks.
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Post by muzzleofbees on Oct 8, 2021 4:12:55 GMT -5
Sorry for another delay, guys - this time due to a heavy cold. But we'll pick it up sooner rather than later.
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Post by thrasher9294 on Oct 8, 2021 13:50:10 GMT -5
No worries at all man. I've been dealing with some heavily family stuff in the mean time, drove up the country a few days back to be with the folks. I'll try to do more than just "react" once things have finally settled back down a bit.
Hope you feel better soon, of course!
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Post by muzzleofbees on Nov 14, 2021 16:37:04 GMT -5
#11: ROCK FOR LITE BRITE
After all these short reviews, I sometimes wonder if I’m starting to see trends or features in Lifter Puller who’s not really there. Like I’m searching for some sort of coherence in songs who’s really not that similar. But listening back to Rock For Lite Brite, I think I can say this with some certainty: Lifter Puller have a way to make single guitar riffs or parts so stacked with - in the lack of a better word - meaning, in a way that very few bands do. They seem to fill these short musical themes with ambivalence, emotion and almost abstract narratives. And Rock For Lite Brite is one of the finest examples of that.
That little descending guitar part that opens the entire song, is to me the sound of something light-hearted who’s bound to end up in something bad. Like someone tipping on their toes in the sunshine, but both the character and we as a listening audience, intuitively know it’s bound to morph into something way heavier and darker. We still go there, though. Cause that’s what you do in this universe.
The soft/hard, light/dark, light/heavy stuff is a theme both well established in tons of works of art, and also in subsequent Hold Steady tunes. And to express one part of the metaphor in words, and another in something more abstract (colours, scenery, music) isn’t all that unique either. When Lifter Puller do it, though, I get the feeling they take us with them on a journey down a timeline. In Rock For Lite Brite we enter the scene on the lighter side of things, and while the riff give us a hint of what’s around the next corner, that’s still some time away. Then they gradually turn things tighter, both lyrically and musically, till we - a little out of the blue - suddenly are situated in a hectic place where we can’t really get out. And they do it in this really subtle and elegant way.
I’m not sure if this makes any sense t0 any of you guys, but this is a big part of the reason why Rock For Lite Brite is a favourite of mine. Besides it being a really, really good poprock song, of course, with the band slowing down one gear and taking their time to really craft the song. The lyrical span throughout is also pretty damn perfect, from the very specific lines about the bong and the job cleaning pools, but in the mouth of detectives in an interrogation scene, to the paranoid blitz of the ending. Such a good closer to a very good album.
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