Lifter

Breaking up may be hard to do, but for Lifter it inspired an entire album. Singer Mike Coulter named Lifter's debut Melinda (Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt) after his ex-girlfriend, and he even thanked her in the liner notes. "A house in the hills and trips to rehab yearly/But keys to your house is the one thing/They'll never give me," Coulter sings on the opening track "Yardcow," setting the dejected tone for the rest of the album. Musically, Lifter borrow the Nirvana formula of abruptly shifting from quiet resignation to deafening anger within the songs; however, Coulter's lyrics are less abstract than Kurt Cobain's, and the scarred innocence in his voice is somehow more compelling. Melinda illustrates a bitter portrait of heartbreak and drug addiction. On "Monkee" and "Big and Tall," Coulter unleashes a fury of resentment; brutally honest, listening to these songs is like reading pages ripped from a diary. "402" became the album's most well-known track thanks to its popularity on alternative radio, and its moving tale of a man who wants to return to the comfort of his parents' home after being disappointed by adulthood has universal appeal. "Where is my honey-dipped life/And my beautiful wife?" Coulter laments on "402" against a barrage of guitar feedback. Unfortunately, Melinda was a flop, transforming Lifter into the forgotten heroes of '90s teen angst. ~ Michael Sutton, All Music Guide