Staff pick of the week...
This week... Bill picks The Grifters

Artist: The Grifters Title: Crappin' You Negative Label: Shangri-La Format: CD Price: $12.25	Tracks on this CD:
	Rats
	Maps of the Sun
	Dead Already
	Black Fuel Incinerator
	Skin Man Palace
	Arizona
	Felt-Tipped Over
	Holmes
	Get Outta That Spaceship and Flight Like a Man
	Piddlebach
	Bronze Cast
	Junkie Blood
	Here Comes Larry
	Cinnamon

In 1994, the Grifters released their 3rd album. It was an album that fulfilled the promise of their first two records and secured the band a much deserved, subsequent record deal with Sub Pop Records. Along the way, it found me both writing my first - and only - fan letter and also placing Crappin' You Negative on my Desert Island Album List along with U2's The Unforgettable Fire and Echo & The Bunnymen's Ocean Rain.

I really liked Pavement, Archers Of Loaf, and Superchunk in those days, but the band I positively LOVED was the Grifters. Listening to a band that I could actually imagine working on the songs in their practice space and achieving better results with each outing... that was the sound I associated with the band.

As a member of a fledgling band I knew I didn't have the genetic code to become Pavement, but I hoped that their was something hidden in the sound of this Memphis band that (along with a little divine intervention or Pabst Blue Ribbon) could get me a little closer to the Grifters. It was watching these 4 regular guys hold a crowd's rapt attention that was part of the inspiration, along with their camaraderie, and willingness to lift a few pints that inspired me a great deal. They were a wonderful independent rock band from the era and on most any night you watched them play live, they could conjure up a little of that good ol' Memphis magic.

The band's primary songwriters Dave Shouse and Scott Taylor went on to form The Bloodthirsty Lovers/Those Bastard Souls and Hot Monkey, respectively. The Bloodthirsty Lovers released a new album this week, Delicate Seam, that is also excellent.