Lifter Puller Vs The End Of Book: An Analysis of Craig Finn's Lyrical Universe

Last week, we reported that an onslaught of reissued Lifter Puller material is on the way. The beloved Minneapolis post-punk band broke up in 2000, and frontman Craig Finn and bassist Tad Kubler went on to form the Hold Steady a few years later. Lifter Puller's recorded output hasn't consistently stayed in print since their breakup, but on December 1, the Orchard will reissue the band's entire catalog, with bonus live tracks, as well as an odds-and-ends collection called Slip Backwards. December will also bring the publication of the book Lifter Puller vs. the End Of. The book will feature lyrics, photos, an oral history, and-- as Finn revealed in the interview below-- a code to download the band's entire catalog.

CF: Well, Dan is a photographer, and so is Tad [Kubler], so we have all these amazing photos from the Lifter Puller days. And rather than reissue CDs, we reissued the musical digitally through the Orchard, but then we have this book that's kind of an accompanying piece. It's photos, lyrics, and an oral history. Jessica went and interviewed a bunch of people. It kind of came from the concept that someone told me at a bar one night: Lifter Puller was kind of the last band before the internet. It stuck with me.

Lifter Puller Vs The End Of Book

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If you go on the internet, there's not a ton of information. So rather than having us interviewed in the book, I came up with the concept of interviewing a bunch of people that were around us at the time, printing what they had to say about the band. I wanted there to be some half-truths and some mis-truths in there because I think that that's one of the glorious things about rock'n'roll. Not to be a Luddite or an old man, but I think that the internet has stamped out some of the beauty of the rumors and innuendos and half-truths. So rather than tell the exact right story, we interviewed a bunch of people who were around at different times, often late nights and hazy mornings, and just tried to piece the story together there. I can tell you that some of the things in there are a little off from the way that I would like the story told, rather than exactly the perfect way.

Jessica did all the interviews, and our friend Jason Miller put the book together. It wasn't something that I had a ton to do with. Dan Monick, our drummer, had a lot more to do with it since it was a lot of his photos. It also has quite a few of Tad's photos. And it's really cool; it really came out well. It's going to come with a download code, so you get the whole catalog, too. It will come with the music, and I think it's a 96-page book.

CF: She interviewed Dillinger Four. She interviewed Syd Butler from Les Savy Fav and Chris Newmyer from Self-Starter Foundation, who put out our records. Chris White, who was booking Brownies at the time. Dave Gardner, who recorded the records. And a couple other people.

I think people are going to really enjoy it, especially the book. It's pretty fun. And there's some video stuff, which is going to pop up online at some point. Some of it is really funny. I just saw the footage of Lifter Puller on "The Jenny Jones Show", which was pretty amazing.

CF: Yeah, there's not that much more to say other than that my friend Tom [Ruprecht] and I wrote a screenplay based on Chuck [Klosterman's] book. On the business end of it, that's the whole story. There's a script that exists.

CF: Yeah, and there's other people involved in the business end. But I will say that it was a really fun experience. Tom is a writer on the "Letterman" show, and he brought a discipline to it that I was really excited about. I mean, he has to write a show, or parts of a show, every day. So we did it on his break, and we worked really hard on it. We got it done, and then refined and revisited it. It was a cool process, and it gave me a lot of respect for people who do that well. The book is not a real linear story, it's more of a bunch of thoughts. We came up with an idea for a story, so we'll see what happens. But I really enjoyed it; it's something I'd like to do more of in the future, as time permits.

After several years out of print, all of the original Lifter Puller records were re-issued digitally with bonus tracks in December 2009. These reissues were accompanied by a limited-edition book entitled Lifter Puller vs. The End of.[2]

December will also see the publication of Lifter Puller Vs. the End Of, a Lifter Puller-themed book that Finn put together alongside Girls Guide to Rocking author Jessica Hopper (full disclosure: Hopper is a friend of mine). The book will include pictures, lyrics, interviews, and testimonials.

In 2009, a book compiling lyrics, historical context, and stories alongside photographs of the band at the time (some from Monick, others from fans and the rest) titled Lifter Puller Vs The End Of was released as well as re-releasing the band's entire discography (save one lost recording, "Bitchy Christmas") digitally. Every song of theirs can be found from digital retailers now, including several live tracks from each of their non-debut releases. All of the bonus rarities from Soft Rock were released on a new album, Slips Backwards, which also included digital versions of previously vinyl-only singles.

Facing financial problems in 1979, AEC left Minneapolis, returning operation of theclub to Fingerhut. Club manager Steve McClellan, who had been booking occasional,mostly local, live acts in the club since 1976, began intensifying those efforts,focusing on the the growing punk music movement in Minneapolis. In 1980 the club wasrechristened First Avenue & 7th Street Entry, First Avenue housing the mainstage and 7th Street Entry--a former restaurant area in the old bus station--housinga smaller stage dominated by local alternative and indie rock acts.

A new issue of broadsheet will be released in May featuring the work of Fleur Adcock, Peter Bland, and Michael Harlow, among other well-known New Zealand writers. broadsheet is a non-profit New Zealand poetry periodical in chapbook form edited by Wellington writer and HeadworX publisher Mark Pirie. 2ff7e9595c