In a town full of musical hermits and legends, it may seem trite to call anyone the town's best kept secret. But truckdriving rocker Shawn Cripps and his revolving cast of characters collectively known as LIMES have been making lovable late night rackets at midtown dives for nearly a decade, with very little to show for it. A couple of singles - one from France, one from Italy, and two homemade CD-Rs were all that existed until Goner released "Rhinestone River" last year. Well, that's not entirely true - as is typical with many Memphis iconoclasts like Alex Chilton, Jim Dickinson,and Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Limes' clicked with overseas listeners before Americans caught on, and Shawn's first album 'Tarantula' did receive a limited CD release in 2005 on a small Australian label. Somehow that made more sense than it should have - as the LIMES brand of quirky pop and rock wouldn't have been out of place in the 80s/90s Aussie/Kiwi land of the Go-Betweens, Verlaines and Tall Dwarfs.

Shawn's lived a crazy life - at one point he lived on a boat in the Mississippi River, there were rumors he went a little kooky at some point and wouldn't listen to anything but 'Exile on Main Street'. For months. He was a frequent collaborator with Harlan T Bobo - and that fit too - as they both were reclusive songsters with more than their fair share of talent and bad luck. Part of their charm is seeing their own quirks reflected in their music.

LIMES have always been the big underdog - catching a show you never knew who would be there or how it'd turn out. Could be the best show of the year - or the worst. Sometimes the worse they played, the better the show was. Those have always been our favorite bands - the ones trying to capture lightning in a bottle in front of 10 or 15 leatherfaced regulars at the bar.

Anyway, as proud as we are of Rhinestone River, the torn up CDR of Tarantula has never ventured too far from the stereo here at Goner. And that's saying something - how many records do you have that still sound fresh and vital after eight years and hundreds of plays?

The CD version tacks on the second Limes CDR "Blue Blood" from 2006, a more laidback and sly slide through Cripps' sideways take on life.

Anyway - all the hits are on here - hope you have as much trouble picking a favorite as we do. LONG LIVE LIMES!