The Hold Steady
http://www.theholdsteady.com
styles: bar rock, classic rock, rock revival
others: E Street Band, Billy Joel, Talking Heads
 Boys
and Girls in America
Vagrant, 2006
rating: 4/5
reviewer: baron
The Hold Steady will always have their detractors; I understand that. Some
people love testosterone-fueled bar-band ballads, and others can't get over the
fact that lead singer Craig Finn doesn't actually, you know, sing. To each his
own, right?
Wrong. It's hard to believe that anyone could honestly deny the ass-kickingness
of Boys and Girls in America, the band's strongest offering to date. From
start to finish, the album is filled with monster melodies in the form of
dramatic monologues and screeching instrumentals. Don't believe me? Try opener
"Stuck Between Stations," which pauses two-thirds of the way through for some
Ben Folds-esque piano tomfoolery before launching into some of the most searing
lead-guitar licks pretty much ever. Or "You Can Make Him Like You," with its
call-and-response choruses featuring shouts of "There's always other boys/
There's always other boyfriends" between break-through-the-skin drum pounds
and more sort-of-singing. My butt hurts already.
But it's not all drunken rockouts. Seriously — is that an acoustic guitar I hear
on "First Night?" 'Cause that's definitely an acoustic guitar that plays
throughout "Citrus" like some sort of goddamn Counting Crows song. Is The Hold
Steady getting soft? (Answer: No.) But, hey, everyone needs a bit of a break
sometime, and, as breaks go, these ones are pretty good.
And, I mean, I could go on and on about thematic elements and the album's
accurate representations of Midwest teenage ennui and the depth of characters
and whatever, but, in the end, who the fuck really cares? (Answer: No one.) All
that matters is that this album makes me want to air guitar real bad until I
somehow break the hell out of my knuckles in a way that The Hold Steady's never
really made me want to do before.
Despite all this, some people will still manage to hate Boys and Girls in
America. That's okay — everyone has the right to be wrong sometimes. It's
just that, well, now they're wronger than ever.
1. Stuck Between Stations
2. Chips Ahoy!
3. Hot Soft Light
4. Same Kooks
5. First Night
6. Party Pit
7. You Can Make Him Like You
8. Massive Night
9. Citrus
10. Chillout Tent
11. Southtown Girls
 Almost
Killed Me
French Kiss, 2004
rating: 4.5/5
reviewer: patrickd
The Hold Steady is the smartest bar band you'll ever hear. They combine all the
charm and elegance of a filthy little bar with smart lyrics and an ear for
classic rock and roll on their debut, Almost Killed Me. These guys are
going to rock your summer, and leave you wanting to knock some back with the
drunks down the street.
Former Lifter Pullers and bar crawlers, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler moved to
Brooklyn from Minneapolis in 2000. The duo got together with Galin Polivka and
Judd Counsell and The Hold Steady was born. Why did four guys from the Midwest
move to New York to create a midwestern band? The answer doesn't matter because
Almost Killed Me rocks all 50 states. The Hold Steady blends different
elements of classic rock and creates music that doesn't sound borrowed or old.
They sound both familiar and completely unique at the same time.
The first thing that sticks out on Almost Killed Me is Finn's
sing-talking. His voice sounds like it's sucked too much smoky bar air, and his
lyrics come straight out of years of house parties and dark watering holes. He
is obsessed with identity, too. Lines like, "I've been trying to get people
to call me Freddy Knuckles/ but people keep calling me Right Said Fred," are
scattered across the album. Finn's songs are built around a world of drugs,
parties, and blue-collar kids with nothing better to do. "The 80s almost
killed me/ let's not recall them quite so fondly" is the Hold Steady's
theme.
Almost Killed Me is the most authentic, dirty, and rocking album you'll
hear all summer. They're not too artsy, and they even have a saxophone solo at
the end of "Hostile Mass.," but the Hold Steady has more heart than a million
laptop musicians. This album proves the guys sucking down cheap beer might be
smarter than you think.
1. Positive Jam
2. The Swish
3. Barfruit Flies
4. Most People are DJs
5. Certain Songs
6. Knuckles
7. Hostile Mass
8. Sketchy Metal
9. Sweet Payne
10. Killer Parties
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