4 out of 5

Label: Sub Pop

Producer: Doug Easley

Perhaps because it was the first Sub-Pop release (moving past their indie-er Shangri-La stuff), perhaps because of the move beyond 4 and 8-track recording, “Ain’t My Lookout” is the most polished of all Grifters’ albums, even moreso than their Sub-Pop followup, “Full Blow Possession.”  But this is a relative term.  Polished just means that you can pick riffs out of the muddiness, and so while it might lack the rough edge that their right-to-tape previous method offered, this is still a very pure, rootsy rock sound, and the inherent charm and swagger (that’s pegged the Grifts as an indie Rolling Stones) in their style is brought more to the fore…  So this acts like a “major” release should in the sense that it chooses something that doesn’t affect the core values of the band to make more accessible – in this case that’s dusting off the static.  Otherwise the lyrics are still a blend of cynical and stupid, which keeps most Grifters albums from being perfect, I think (they share this with other insular-style bands/lyricists, like Stephen Malkmus and Pavement, who, though the band obviously made several seminal indie albums, never really made one that made me stop and think about what I was listening to vs. just bobbing my head).  The Stones carry with them some kind of implied “oh, you’re into rock and roll” connotation, but still, most people with a full Stones collection on their shelf probably don’t venture too far out beyond some expected “cool” gems.  The Grifters never quite made cool status, they just weren’t catchy enough or cool good looking enough or something, so if that rock and roll fan comes to you asking for something new, “Ain’t My Lookout” is probably a great starting point.