#lifterpuller

[artbytai]

I’m not only here to traffic art & win awards, I gotta get some drawing done too, damnitt!!!! 😳😂😉...@UptownArtFair closes at 5pm today. So you’ve got some time to make it over to purchase artwork to adorn your boring walls😏...or just watch me draw while my Bose speaker box spits my #Minnesota artist tribute playlist which includes the obvious like @atmosphere @theworldhasnoeyedea @ceschiramos @astronautalis @yeahrightpos @brotheraliisblind @cecilotter @lazerbeak @dessa @s_i_m_s @djabilities @mikemictlan @djpapertiger @profgampo @carnagetheexecutioner @tokiwright @tapesntapes @charlie.parr @dillingerfour #BobDylan #Prince @masonjennings @tbtduluth #BabesInToyland @huskerduofficial #InformationSociety #TheReplacements #TheSuburbs #TheAndrewSisters @lowtheband #LifterPuller and @iselfdevine just to name a few, all of which you should also have on regular in your playlists! . . ...#artbytai #theartist #drawingwithpen #ballpointpendrawing #penart #ballpointpenart #surrealart #bicpenart #mydrawings #bic #bicpens #Bicyourday #mybicmoment #horse #uptownartfair #minneapolis #minnesota #artfestival (at Uptown Art Fair "Official") https://www.instagram.com/p/B0v8Hh-H_ax/?igshid=qdl5ce2a7485

[thecurseofbrian]

12 Rods, Lifter Puller and Oxpecker at 7th Street Entry on February 14 1997. #12rods #lifterpuller #7thstreetentry #minneapolis #minnesota @firstavenue https://instagr.am/p/CZnq1HFN4fm/

[objectivesubjectivity]

I’m at 99 contenders for my “Top 100 Albums of All Time” list.

A large part of this entire journey was to attempt to delve into my subjectivity and question why I like what I like and, potentially, in a broader sense, start to gain a better understanding of what makes a *great* album. 

But equally as interesting are those albums that just aren’t *great* enough. This past week, I listened to two albums which are truly excellent but didn’t quite make the cut.

Iron and Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog

When I first heard Iron and Wine, I was admittedly dulled out of my senses. I would frequently rant about their dullness and question why anyone in their right mind could stand it. So much so that I remember a friend asking to quote my vitriol for an article he was writing on the band (something about drinking jim beam while listening to sam beam, I couldn’t find the article online). 

I have since replaced “dulled” with “lulled” and found great appreciation for  “The Creek Drank the Cradle” and “Our Endless Numbered Days.”

But then a different friend of mine handed me a copy of the “Woman King EP,” and told me to give them another shot. And, I’ll admit, I was impressed. Here was some potential for life and energy and passion. So, with that in mind, I gave “The Shepherd’s Dog” a chance. And it paid off. 

Here was the fullness I had been missing. There was even a rhythm section! And with it came a groove that played masterfully off of Beam’s silky voice and accompanying harmonies.

To this day, it’s an album I turn to at a party or when with company or on a road trip. It possesses the unique quality of being both supremely palatable and musically complex; it appeals to both the active and the passive listener. 

So, for g-d’s sake, why leave it off the contender list? 

One reason might be due to its universality. There is nothing abrasive, nothing off-putting, nothing controversial in these 12 tracks. Even the scattered vulgarities are so well couched that a discerning ear might easily miss them on a first listen. I find that I tend to lean toward the less than perfect, the flawed, the discordant. Individuality can be built by defending unpopular opinions and the unpopular opinion in this case might be passing it by. This is not to say that I rejoice in making choices others find cringeworthy, but I do believe that there is joy in having an opinion that is uniquely yours. 

Another reason is that I tend to lean toward albums that feel like the artist is pushing their own boundaries. In this case, the boundaries pushed are adding some instruments and not sounding like they’ve recorded the entire thing in their basement. So maybe I just don’t find the push all that impressive.

Lastly, maybe I’ve just heard it too many times. As I said before, it’s an album I frequently turn to. When I was working at coffeeshops, many of its tracks would be on my work playlist. I’ve probably listened to “Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car,” nearly 100 times. And the fact that, unlike “Graceland” or “August and Everything After” or “I Am The Movie,” its repeatability feels even remotely negative seems like reason enough.

Atmosphere - Seven’s Travels

I stumbled upon Atmosphere on a Epitaph Records compilation. 

My knowledge of hip-hop at that time was fairly limited. I was a big fan of Beastie Boys. I owned De La’s “Three Feet High and Rising,” and Tribe’s “Low End Theory” but didn’t really get them. I had “The Slim Shady LP,” but that was because I first heard him on alternative radio. I thought Limp Bizkit was cool.

Tough times, I know.

But I was big into punk. And this was when Epitaph was killing it. Not only did their roster include classics like Bad Religion, Pennywise, and Rancid, but they began to push the limits of the genre, signing acts like Motion City Soundtrack and The Weakerthans and The Special Goodness. 

And then there was this licensing deal that brought Rhymesayers to Epitaph. 

And I discovered Sage Francis and Eyedea & Abilities and The Coup and Danger Doom. 

And I discovered Atmosphere. 

I knew there was something special about Seven’s Travels when Slug gave a shout out to “emo kids with too many feelings” in the intro to “Always Coming Back Home to You.” The album was rife with Ant’s slick beats and Slug’s impassioned rhymes. Slug was Drake while Drake was still on Degrassi. And I ate that shit up.

So why the disrespect this time around?

I’m married now. I have, at the least, a semblance of a career. I help pay a mortgage. I’m not worried about relationships or getting my life together or battling with my vices. I’m worried about my cholesterol and when I’m going to do the laundry and if I’m saving enough money for the future. Like Slug, I am also trying to find a balance but its between being responsible and having enough time to do shit like write these blogs.  

Whatever I can enjoy about the album exists purely in nostalgia. And nostalgia can be a beast. I would be lying if I said I didn’t start bopping my head to the aforementioned “Trying to Find a Balance,” or gutteral-screaming along to “Bird Sings Why the Cage I Know,” or giving an approving smile to the LifterPuller reference in “Reflections.” But nostalgia can only go so far. And it damn well shouldn’t be a reason to give an album a top 100 contender slot. 

What I listened to last week:

Top 100 contenders in bold.

CIV - Set Your Goals

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Atmosphere - Seven’s Travels

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

Severed - Severed

Ben Kweller - Sha Sha

Dashboard Confessional- The Shade of Poison Trees: I love the fact that the songs on this album that sound the most like his early material are political rants; almost as if his heart is no longer broken by girls but by our government. 

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombation in 12 Bursts

Slow Gherkin - Shed Some Skin

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog

Every Avenue - Shh, Just Go With It

Chumbawamba - Shhh

Constantines - Shine A Light

Eels - Shootenanny!

Filter - Short Bus

Show Off - Show Off (PPP #60)

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Ace of Base - The Sign

When Walls Are Built - The Silence Party

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Outsmarting Simon - silent sober and sound

Okkervil River - The Silver Gymnasium

Knapsack - Silver Sweepstakes

AFI - Sing the Sorrow

Total albums listened to: 1,493

[violentindigo]

Lifter Puller opening for The Hold Steady. I legit lost my shit when I saw that this was happening. This was worth everything #thsbb #lifterpuller

[newlexicon]

Lifter Puller playing a little bit of 'Naussau Coliseum' at D4th Of July 7-4-15 #LifterPuller #LFTRPLLR #D4th ##D4thOfJuly

[jenesaisquoizine]

LFTR PLLR

There was this amazing band called Lifter Puller from Minneapolis, where I lived in 1998-2001. I was supposed to write a preview about a show they had coming up at The 7th Street Entry. This was a popular 300-capacity venue in downtown Minneapolis whose name was aptly given – the entry to the club was

on 7th Street, but also because it was often a place for entry-level bands to play. When I called band member Craig Finn, he told me the band was done. Here are excerpts from what was published:

The discovery of their break up was sudden. Singer/guitarist Craig Finn gave me the news over the phone, as I was fixing to set up an interview for their now cancelled Seventh Street Entry show. It took me a moment to process what he revealed, and before I could think to say anything more eloquent, I had already blurted out “What?!” The band has had it’s run. The setting sun was glaring against the Weisman’s shiny aluminum exterior. July 29th’s performance of Lifter Puller’s “Nassau Coliseum” brought a tear to my eye. The band looked exhausted; the crowd’s attention was given wholly to the band. During those last moments panic filled eyes as the mic was breaking up, the room kept growing increasingly humid, and the bodies against the stage were falling against and into another. “Nassau Coliseum” was imperfect; And that in itself was perfect poetry in motion. Expressions on the sea of sweaty faces told a million stories. That moment was something short of saying farewells to a cherished friend moving far away, never to return. It would be the last song. This was a moment of Minneapolis Rock history. It was five days since that show when I sat down with guitarist/keyboardist Steve Barone and drummer Dan Monick. The overcast day on Lyndale Blvd. fit the mood for a discussion about their break up. I began by asking if it was forseen. Barone sips his iced coffee and explains, “We cancelled the rest (of our shows) because we didn’t want to do the ‘Hey, we’re breaking up at the end of the summer.’ When you decide to break up, you break up. You don’t go on.”

I went on to describe Lifter Puller as The Pixies’ answer to “indie punk” in that Craig is the very definition of a troubador. He is a rich storyteller as Black Francis, maybe even a better one. I was 23 when I wrote this article. It’s since been posted on a couple websites run by fans. Lifter Puller reunited for a three shows in 2003. After this, Craig and Tad formed the band The Hold Steady, and my friend Bobby Drake (also from Minneapolis) joined them on drums. I am a fan of this band too, they currently tour worldwide and have been featured in magazines way bigger than Pulse of the Twin Cities, where my article was originally published.

PS: It’s worth it to note that Dan Monick is now a well-known photographer, who has produced some of my favorite images.

From page 6 of Je Ne Se Quoi, Issue 1

[thecurseofbrian]

Lifter Puller at 7th Street Entry on July 5 1997. Artwork by Hazelworks. #lifterpuller #7thstreetentry @firstavenue https://instagr.am/p/CYg0dBFLGYo/

[analeeblitz]

this song, makes me think of the current girl I'm into, cute blondie this one's for you, one day I'll serenade this to you, but I must warn you, I don't have a voice as sweet as yours.

let me lick your windows clean, take a clearer look at me get up off your lazy eye and look into my brighter side and i'm not afraid to quit, i'm just used to it so i deal with it she's takin off her make-up and she knows we'll both be better off without it let me treat you like a queen, it could boost my self esteem dig your nails into my hands when i show you to my friends nitrous oxide laugh at your birthday bash right before you crashed she's takin off my glasses and i've only seen her once before without em