The Hold Steady ‘s Craig Finn has such a bellow horn of a voice everything he sings sounds like him. And he sounds like Hold Steady. Years, including the recent song “Barely Breathing” off their upcoming Heaven Is Whenever and it all the sounds the same. That’s the bad news and here is the good: it is a great sound, a sorta modern day Springsteen circa The River (without the slow numbers: who needs em?)
Readying myself for the concert tomorrow I made myself a Hold Steady playlist…
Certain Songs – Marie Lynn stucks this on a burn for me years ago and it knocked me out. Goes back to what we were saying yesterday about the relationship between musicians between themselves and musicians with their fans. And between people and songs. One of Finn’s finest, it actually reminds me of Freedy Johnston’s first album (maybe the Billy Joel reference, right?) but it is a firm footed rock symphony. Finn would claim it is about hearing music that mattered to you when you were young while you’re driving to your lawyers office to file for divorce.
Magazines – Another fucked up girl, another knockabout chorus saying a lot more that a clever pun will tell you -connecting Magazines and Daddy to issues is one thing, rhyming it with lipstick tissues is gonna send you somewhere else but the sound -I mean, it sounds like a cool Hold Steady song, lotsa E Street guitars, no horns and a real good drummer. And that voice.
Sequestered In Memphis – Another story from the master beat writer… a one night stand goes South for the winter and the singer is telling the story over and over again to a cop. Oh, wait, those are horns… right? Right?
Stay Positive – I am less keen when Finn sing speaks and he does so all over this song though the “whoah hoo hoos” are way fucking cool. Is this guy having a good or shitty life?
Girls Like Status – I adore this song -maybe my second fave by HS. And I am not a Mountain Goat fan (I have one album but it never did anything for me). But why is it Finn seems to spend his life re-writing the plot to American Graffiti? I’ve never seen em live by the way and would be real interested to see what they can do with their sameyness.
Atlantic City – Crap cover, like Springsteen being sung by a not as clever singer.
Lord, I’m Discouraged – OK, the guitar solo is different but these guys drag on and on… I do like them, I don’t hate em at least, but they get so boring and when they forget a melody -which they do way too often, all you are left with is Finn’s often tuneless rasp. And these are the songs I like.
Party Pit – Is there a sense of humor somewhere here? I dunno but after awhile you wanna pull this guy outta the “Party Pit”. Yet another song, yet another drunken party, yet another relationship imploding, but “gonna walk around and drink some more” nails it flat down. And I’m beginning to really like the guitar.
Stuck Between Stations – Yeah, I know, Boys And Girls In America is the one that does it for me. This is a great song and it would be a lot better if it didn’t sound like EVERY FUCKING THING ELSE. Still, the lyric here is something special: “We drink, we dry up, then we crumble to dust, we get wet, we corrode and now were covered up in rust .”
Guess we’ll see tomorrow.