Fiestas & Fiascos by Lifter Puller

Fiestas and Fiascos is the final Lifter Puller LP composed of new material and the only album of theirs not included on Soft Rock. The record is much tighter than previous songs, following the direction implied by songs like "Secret Santa Cruz," where the band plays hook-centrically and vocalist Craig Finn sings with more vocal force (shouting at times) than melodicism. The almost exclusively mythological focus of "Fiestas..." in many ways foreshadows the approach Finn would take with The Hold Steady, as does the less melodic vocal approach. In addition, the record ends with the burning of the "Nice Nice", bringing the Lifter Puller Folklore back to its start.