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The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady's frontman Craig Finn lived in the Minneapolis area before relocating to the mean streets of Brooklyn. Minneapolis is relatively sedate. Brooklyn is rough and tumble. Finn (and the band's) creative spirit took Brooklyn's day-to-day and cut it with Midwest references and styles associated with homeland groups like Husker Du and The Replacements.
Finn and Tad Kubler were in a band called Lifter Puller (terrible name) that mutated into The Hold Steady (much better). The group's debut album, '04's "Almost Killed Me," created a bit of a buzz - critics liked it. The group even landed on the cover of The Village Voice. Sophomore effort "Separation Sunday," was a loose concept album based on a character named Holly and her quest to find a balance between Catholicism and Rock n' Roll through drugs and a metaphorical resurrection. Good luck with that. Despite the dubious premise, the NY critics once again jumped on board.
The Hold Steady moved to Vagrant Records for their third album "Boys And Girls In America." The CD sold over 50,000 copies which was more than the first two albums combined. The higher profile earned the group Blender's 2006 Band of the Year award. Then another, larger magazine, Rolling Stone, chimed in ranking the album #8 on their Best Albums of 2006 list. "We'll stay on the road for as long as possible," said Finn at the time. "So we don't have to go back to real work."
Not ones to forget their roots (in addition to Finn, Kubler hailed from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area), The Hold Steady recorded a version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" for the seventh inning stretch at Minnesota Twins games.
The group returned to the studio or rather studios, in Hoboken and Queens, to lay down tracks for "Stay Positive." Finn was quoted saying the album "captures a band hitting their creative peak, as well as enjoying each other's creativity and company." Kubler took a little different tact to promote the album. "There are some bands that do five records that all sound similar," said Kubler. "We've tried to avoid that."
The Hold Steady have been called a 'bar band'. While that term implies a certain looseness and rough edge it sells the group short. They aren't necessarily a "thinking person's bar band" (that would be the kiss of death), rather they are a "play the hand you're dealt" bar band. Finn sings of people who have gone sideways or fallen over backwards. There are few success stories - moments at best.
Critics have cited similarities between The Hold Steady and Bruce Springsteen. But The Boss' '70s material sounds positively slick (even optimistic) by comparison. The Hold Steady go for the jugular and rarely ease up.
"Almost Killed Me" has "The Swish" and "Barfruit Blues," with its simple but effective guitar line. Combining a Stones-like chord progressions with '80s Wave guitar makes "Most People Are DJs" standout. While the poetry slam opener "Positive Jam" doesn't work and "Knuckles" is hard to listen to, this set represents a good start and establishes The Hold Steady as a unique outfit.
"Sunday Separation" hits more confidently even with the religious connotations. Finn sings of original sin and whose fault it is ("Cattle And The Creeping Things") and Jesus dying for our sins ("Your Little Hoodrat Friend") but there is a bitterness and anger underneath the words - nothing preachy - more desperation. Finn's off-beat lyrics about Dallas still not being safe for Catholics - look what they did to JFK ("Don't Let Me Explode") or singing about a person who is like a hawk on the highway looking for something that recently died ("Multitude Of Causalities") have an immediate visceral impact.
Finn's grittier take on Springsteen's storytelling comes to the forefront on "Boys And Girls In America." Also, the keyboards have a more predominate role in the song's texture and dynamics. "Chips Ahoy!" is a great organ-guitar track backing Finn who confesses that it's hard to tell whether the girl he's with is having a good time. The band cuts loose on "Same Kooks" producing one of the set's killer songs. Finn and Co. drive right over Springsteen's lawn on their way to his back porch on "Party Pit" before unveiling "Massive Night," a great carousing song, with sing-along backing vocals.
"Stay Positive" has Finn still relaying life stories while the band channels The Wallflowers ("Sequestered In Memphis") and R.E.M. ("Both Crosses"). Nicolay goes to town on "Navy Sheets" making it sound like Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) sitting in with the Beaver Brown Band. Yeah, kinda weird. But "Stay Positive" is too good an album to get hung up on a wayward track or two. Set opener "Constructive Summer" jumps with Kubler's guitar pushing Finn and "Sequestered In Memphis" has a big organ sound anchoring a rootsy Blues track. A jangling piano offsets the churning, driving guitar on "Yeah Sapphire" and then there's Finn's street corner rap on the title track. These two songs are at the top of the heap.
The ballad "Lord, I'm Discouraged" is sung, as one might expect, mournfully, but another slow track "Magazines" does a stunning job summing up man-woman relations or lack thereof.