Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

I met myself at a bar last Thursday. It was cold and wet and the wind pushed against the pub door like a tramp out of stash. I was drinking doubles but my dopple drinks 3.2, he grabs a round and I shout "me too." We two got down to the business and we shot the shit like a preach with no witness. "Finn should have stuck with Lifter Puller," I holler over the out-of-whack juke. "They turned you inside out," I spout. It was a sour metaphor but he bit like a trout. "It's just like you to like 'em out of context." Jamie throws back both his head and the PBR. The bar is dark but we can see where we are. Jenny from the Fisch Haus plays pool with the skaters. We like to hate 'em but they ain't so bad at the skating. "But let me tell you about The Hold Steady." "Don't even start." I'm ordering bourbon now by fanning my fingers out. Only a couple down and we've already lost all our manners. "I think Finn...

Fiestas and Fiascos Lifter Puller 2000 Self Starter Foundation There once was a band, from Minnetonka, or Minnesota, or, well, actually, they were from Milwaukee... as were, I believe, Laverne and Shirley. They were here, they were now, they were discordant, they were literate, they were, arguably, beyond brilliant. They told stories, and then they were gone. Eventually, they were reborn as the Hold Steady, and, to a good degree, they were very similar. However, we are not here to talk about the Hold Steady. We do, however, love the Hold Steady; one could go so far as to say that we have a big boner for the Hold Steady. Again, however, our feelings for the Hold Steady are not up for discussion. We are here to discuss Lifter Puller, and, more specifically, the brilliant album "Fiestas and Fiascos". Many years ago, I bought tickets to a show at Brownie's in NYC -- a club that most everyone will remember as being "important". Well, as clubs go, and importance goes,...