The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America
Why have I become obsessed with The Hold Steady? Is it because they are a band of guys on the far north side of 30 who rock out? Is it that their songs "speak to me?" Craig Finn and his crew from Brooklyn (by way of Minneapolis) write songs that repeat phrases like "kicking it," "separate trips," "getting high" and other staples of high school life. Or are they?
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America (2006) takes its title from a Jack Kerouac reference that somehow winds its way to Minneapolis and John Berryman. The songs are amateur sociology at its finest: girls, drunken escapades, winning at the track, taking drugs at an outdoor concert and that staple of everyone's teen years: the all-ages hardcore matinee show. And girls. The endless girls vs. boys allusions carry every song to a peak that leaves you wondering what you did wrong.
Beyond the epic quality of the lyrics, the songs are musically very Springsteen in their construction. Most of the songs have two if not three distinct parts - not just your typical whole note modulation but key changes and resolutions that make you want to cry because you didn't write them. Pure freaking genius.
This is the third full-length from The Hold Steady - released in October 2006. An updated Special Edition will be released in the UK on November 12 (next week) that includes second CD with 8 live tracks. Previous releases include The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me (2004) and their "concept album" The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday(2005).
The Hold Steady will be playing in NYC on November 21 at Terminal 5. See you there. Man.
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America (2006) takes its title from a Jack Kerouac reference that somehow winds its way to Minneapolis and John Berryman. The songs are amateur sociology at its finest: girls, drunken escapades, winning at the track, taking drugs at an outdoor concert and that staple of everyone's teen years: the all-ages hardcore matinee show. And girls. The endless girls vs. boys allusions carry every song to a peak that leaves you wondering what you did wrong.
Beyond the epic quality of the lyrics, the songs are musically very Springsteen in their construction. Most of the songs have two if not three distinct parts - not just your typical whole note modulation but key changes and resolutions that make you want to cry because you didn't write them. Pure freaking genius.
This is the third full-length from The Hold Steady - released in October 2006. An updated Special Edition will be released in the UK on November 12 (next week) that includes second CD with 8 live tracks. Previous releases include The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me (2004) and their "concept album" The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday(2005).
The Hold Steady will be playing in NYC on November 21 at Terminal 5. See you there. Man.
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