The Hold Steady, Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant) 9+
Hold Steady built a pretty devoted following with their first two albums, Almost Killed Me (2004) and Separation Sunday (2005). Though based in NYC , Craig Finn based the songs on his experiences living in the Twin Cities in the 90s, as a member of Lifter Puller. Like Bruce Springsteen’s cast of characters on a semi-fictional Jersey shore, Finn does some myth building with fucked up, tempestuous, drunk, larger-than life characters that make multiple appearances, particularly Charlemagne and Holly. The band is great, a sort of mix of Thin Lizzy power riffing and Guided By Voices garage rock. But Finn’s choice to mostly talk and shout made it tough going for more than a few songs at a time.
Problem solved. On Boys & Girls In America, Finn sings, at least some of the time. He sounds a bit like Bob Mould, and the occasional melody in the vocals makes a world of difference with some great shouty-harmonizing from the band. The band has stepped it up a notch too, with catchier hooks and a more sweeping, epic sound that really blows up Finn’s poetic vision to widescreen proportions. The album starts out quoting Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, with a stirring piano line. This is definitely The Hold Steady’s Born To Run. Hell, it’s better.
My five year stint in the Twin Cities predates Finn’s by a few years, but he definitely captures the flavor. It comes out October 3. It’ll save some lives and ruin others. It’s that good.
