If you’re a fan of modern indie music, you can’t possibly have a Minnesota themed week on your blog without a little bit of Craig Finn. Currently, he’s the energetic, arm flailing front man of the ridiculously awesome The Hold Steady. Believe me, if there were a record by them that I hadn’t heard, you’d be reading about it right now. They’re my second favorite band though, so naturally, I’ve heard every single song that they’ve ever recorded.
Before Craig started The Hold Steady, he was in the not-as-good Lifter Puller. I’ve heard one record by them (To Live and Die in LBI) and was thoroughly underwhelmed. Sure, Craig was still utilizing his infamous sing-talk voice back then, but the band backing him up was pretty weak. My expectations were pretty low for Fiestas and Fiascos.
I got exactly what I was expecting out of this album. Craig Finn had awesome lyrics even back then, but pretty much no one to back him up. Tad Kubler (also a future Hold Steadier) does all that he can on guitar, but I feel that he’s definitely gotten better over the years. The riffs are pretty weak sauce; nothing like the meaty classic rock greatness that you get on pretty much any Hold Steady song.
Think of Lifter Puller as The Hold Steady in its adolescence. Craig still had some maturing left to do before he could reach his peak of amazingness (which happened some time in 2006, with Boys and Girls in America). Mr. Finn took a step in the right direction when he stopped giving his songs names like Space Humping $19.99
Swole Ear 