The Lifters
Texa$ Tra$h (Killingbird)
Combining the sneering no-futurism of Social Distortion with the balls-out Southern rock affectations of Black Oak Arkansas ain’t blazing new trails, but Austin’s Lifters manage to make the formula come alive in all its skyward-fisted glory. The quartet pays homage to classic country with a cowpunk cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” but they head straight for the garage to celebrate the alluringly dangerous mythos of Roller Derby culture on “Roller Queen.”
This article appears in September 16 • 2005.
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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.
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