Hold Steady's Craig Finn 'Proud' of Lifter Puller Reissues

Before they were in the Hold Steady, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler were members of Lifter Puller, a rock outfit that was a fixture on the Minneapolis scene. After releasing a few albums, the post-punk quartet called it quits in 2000 but found a wider audience in the subsequent years. Thanks to renewed fan interest, Lifter Puller's entire catalogue will be reissued with bonus material and an oral history on Dec. 1, letting Hold Steady fans hear how Finn evolved into the songwriter and singer he is today.

"The guys and I have remained pretty good friends. We started seeing Lifter Puller CDs going for a lot of money on eBay, which we thought was kind of ridiculous," Finn tells Spinner. "We were never on a huge label and we wanted to get these things back in print, so we just decided to do it ourselves. It didn't take a ton of digging to get the music but it was kind of fun just to be reconnecting with those guys and working on the project."

To enhance the experience, Finn collaborated with friend and 'The Girls' Guide to Rocking' author Jessica Hopper on 'Lifter Puller Vs. the End Of.' The book is an oral history of the band as told by fellow musicians, fans and friends, and includes photography by the band, lyrics and a code that lets buyers download the band's entire catalog. "Someone once said to me that Lifter Puller was the last band before the internet and we kind of wanted to capture some of the rumor and innuendo that was a part of rock 'n' roll before then," Finn says. "Rather than have us interviewed for the book, we had her interview a whole bunch of people around us. It's kind of hearsay."

With influences like Sebadoh, Guided by Voices and Pavement, the band was a staple in Minneapolis clubs, performing to hundreds of people alongside punk band Dillinger Four and indie hip hop act Atmosphere. "It was a really cool and diverse music scene at that point with people who went on to do things nationally," Finn says. "That said, when we left Minneapolis, the numbers would dwindle to almost nothing. The shows were small but they were still pretty energetic. We were always pretty amped to play music."

In the end, the band mutually decided to break up after six years together. Drummer Dan Monick works as a photographer in Los Angeles while guitarist Steve Barone still resides in Minneapolis, working in advertising and performing with musical comedy act The Hawaii Show. "It was sort of exhaustion and the idea that we'd done it," Finn says. "We put out three full-lengths, one EP and a ton of singles, toured the country and played a ton of shows so it was the right time. Some of us were antsy to leave Minneapolis and some were just interested in trying new things. I think we ended on a high note. We all remain good friends more than anything else."

Still, Finn looks back at Lifter Puller as an achievement. "It was a really passionate thing, very ambitious," he says. "We didn't reach a lot of success in some ways but we did make a lot of music and actually looking back it's one of the things of how proud I am of it."