Spring Break
The Hold Steady releases fourth album
Charlotte Downes
Issue date: 7/16/08 Section: The Edge
In their fourth release "Stay Positive," The Hold Steady creates a perfect summer soundtrack. True to form, lead vocalist/guitarist Craig Finn has packed the album with rolling anthems about youth, wild times and drinking in podunk Midwestern towns, as well as deep, honest ballads that manage to evoke emotion without any cringe inducing sappiness.
At age 35, Finn does a fair job invoking 17, with lyrics that feature characters you might have gone to high school with, and plot lines that sound like stories you might hear at 2 a.m. on a Thursday night when your nostalgic best friend is a few beers in. Fans of their 2006 album, "Boys and Girls in America," will enjoy the themes and linear storytelling of the Hold Steady's latest.
Often described as a blend between Husker Du and Bruce Springsteen, The Hold Steady crafts a modern, powerful kind of rock - a unique sound that could land their album in any music lover's collection. "Stay Positive" is further developed in instrumentation than past records. This time, Finn's vocals don't crowd the instrumentation, and the sound has matured.
Keyboardist Franz Nicolay plays a new role in the band, featuring new age washes that hold a more prominent spot on tracks than in past albums.
However, the album is not without its flaws. On the track "Navy Sheets," Drive By Truckers vocalist Patterson Hood contributes, but his voice is overwhelmed by both Finn and the instrumentation. Although I'm an avid Drive By Truckers fan, I actually missed Hood the first time I listened to the track. Ben Nichols of Lucero doesn't fare much better on "Magazines." Finn's voice just doesn't lend to collaboration, with guests often getting lost or overpowered.
Still, listeners can't help but be suckered in. College kids can relate to "One for the Cutters," a tale of a college girl who drifts into smoking up and hanging with the townies. The oddly-hypnotic track follows a harpsichord, which isn't the only unusual instrument choice on the album. "Both Crosses" uses the banjo. Peter Frampton fans will do a double take at some talk boxing on "Joke about Jamaica" which, oddly enough, totally works.
Like always, The Hold Steady closes with a great track. "Slapped Actress," while hardcore fans might not enjoy is as much as past closers, is a deeply poetic and self-aware track. Channeling the specific, articulate lyrics of Grant Hart, the track includes a reference to John Cassavetes, a director known for both his harsh, cutting films and his reckless lifestyle. The song acknowledges that they are both the "directors" and the "projectors," and that the fans ultimately become the owners of the songs. Searching for atonement and fulfillment through a Jersey Shore, 80s-rock kind of gritty spirituality where dive bars mean sanctuary, The Hold Steady has created a classic that is certainly worth picking up.
At age 35, Finn does a fair job invoking 17, with lyrics that feature characters you might have gone to high school with, and plot lines that sound like stories you might hear at 2 a.m. on a Thursday night when your nostalgic best friend is a few beers in. Fans of their 2006 album, "Boys and Girls in America," will enjoy the themes and linear storytelling of the Hold Steady's latest.
Often described as a blend between Husker Du and Bruce Springsteen, The Hold Steady crafts a modern, powerful kind of rock - a unique sound that could land their album in any music lover's collection. "Stay Positive" is further developed in instrumentation than past records. This time, Finn's vocals don't crowd the instrumentation, and the sound has matured.
Keyboardist Franz Nicolay plays a new role in the band, featuring new age washes that hold a more prominent spot on tracks than in past albums.
However, the album is not without its flaws. On the track "Navy Sheets," Drive By Truckers vocalist Patterson Hood contributes, but his voice is overwhelmed by both Finn and the instrumentation. Although I'm an avid Drive By Truckers fan, I actually missed Hood the first time I listened to the track. Ben Nichols of Lucero doesn't fare much better on "Magazines." Finn's voice just doesn't lend to collaboration, with guests often getting lost or overpowered.
Still, listeners can't help but be suckered in. College kids can relate to "One for the Cutters," a tale of a college girl who drifts into smoking up and hanging with the townies. The oddly-hypnotic track follows a harpsichord, which isn't the only unusual instrument choice on the album. "Both Crosses" uses the banjo. Peter Frampton fans will do a double take at some talk boxing on "Joke about Jamaica" which, oddly enough, totally works.
Like always, The Hold Steady closes with a great track. "Slapped Actress," while hardcore fans might not enjoy is as much as past closers, is a deeply poetic and self-aware track. Channeling the specific, articulate lyrics of Grant Hart, the track includes a reference to John Cassavetes, a director known for both his harsh, cutting films and his reckless lifestyle. The song acknowledges that they are both the "directors" and the "projectors," and that the fans ultimately become the owners of the songs. Searching for atonement and fulfillment through a Jersey Shore, 80s-rock kind of gritty spirituality where dive bars mean sanctuary, The Hold Steady has created a classic that is certainly worth picking up.
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