Ah, 1999, what a year, right? Y2K was only a year away, Clinton was still in office, Korn and The Backstreet Boys fought for supremacy on TRL, Prince was partying like the year it was, the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Championship, and, of course, Lifter Puller was still a band.
Don’t know who Lifter Puller was? Can’t understand how the Spurs won the Championship? Don’t worry, I’ll explain. The San Antonio Spurs won the Championship because the twin towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan were an unstoppable scoring machine and their seamless meshing on the court, along with the welcome aid and skills of -- oh... you were just interested in Lifter Puller? Okay. Lifter Puller were a rock band from Minneapolis who counted as members Craig Finn and Tad Kubler who would both eventually move to Brooklyn and form The Hold Steady. During their existence, the band released three LPs, an EP, and played a bunch of shows.
Their whole catalog has been pretty tough to find the last couple years because most of it is out of print, and the people who have it don’t really want to get rid of it. But the times are changing, my friends: the band has announced that not only will its entire catalog be reissued digitally for the first time via The Orchard, but two of the albums will receive “Deluxe Reissue” treatment. There will also be a new odds ‘n’ sods collection of singles, non-album tracks, and live material, plus a book, titled Lifter Puller vs. The End Of, which will contains lyrics, photos, and an oral history of the band.
What does this “Deluxe Reissue” business mean? Well, sophomore LP Half Dead & Dynamite will feature live tracks from a 1998 performance at Minneapolis venue 7th Street Entry; The Entertainment and Arts, the band’s only EP, will also feature bonus tracks from the 7th Street Entry show. Fiestas & Fiascos, Lifter Puller’s third and final album (and debut with Frenchkiss Records) will feature live tracks from a reunion show in 2003. Meanwhile, the new rarities collection, titled Slips Backwards, will feature 17 tracks of singles, non-album material, and two live songs from a 2000 performance in Washington D.C. All of the albums are available for download today, December 1.
