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Music : Boys & Girls In America
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Rating: 
- The future of rock'n' roll? I think not...
'Boys and Girls in America' has been greeted with unanimiously great reviews in the UK press, mirroring a similarly ecstatic response from Rolling Stone for the Hold Steady's second LP 'Separation Sunday.' The wave of approval from the press has continued with the Hold Steady's first full-length tour, which saw venues sell out and extra dates being added. Having listened to the album a few times and caught them live at Birmingham Academy, I'm not sure if the Hold Steady are really the future of rock'n'roll. I might be wrong - plenty of others have loved this album and were reacting positively, as I griped in the corner...
Maybe it's the fact The Hold Steady are freely compared to bands like Husker Du and The Replacements, a frequent comparison that I'm sure is now being made by people unfamiliar with those bands. Is this comparison there cos The Hold Steady stem from the same city as those bands?, or worser, cos Craig Finn is a bit chubby like Bob Mould was? I can see them vaguely like late period 'Mats, say All Shook Down or Don't Tell a Soul, but they could be similarly seen as close to Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, or The Wondermints. The comparisons to the Boss I can see, but this probably gives them more credit than they deserve - the opening track is steeped in that 'Born to Run'-thing I like least about the Boss, but it smacks more of Bruce Hornsby and the Range, the kind of act that is completely at odds with the Du or the 'Mats. Finn's storytelling lyrics (probably perfected with the 'Street Hassle'-qualities on the previous conceptual album) are good if you like that kind of thing, though the vocal performance is very Counting Crows - a band I can only take in small doses. I guess you could cite the first two Springsteen/E-Street Band albums, but there's nothing as direct as 'For You' here, and a sense that they'd kill for a song as wild as 'New York Serenade' - the kind of song the Hold Steady might want to make but haven't as yet. I preferred the album to the live version of the band, finding Finn quite whiney live...
There are several songs that follow the standard set on the first two albums, 'Same Kooks', 'Party Pit', 'You Can Make Him Like You', single 'Chips Ahoy!' - the songs on 'Almost Killed Me' and 'Separation Sunday' refined and perfected here. Maybe that makes it too slick for me? - one guitar-solo on 'Same Kooks' made me think of Peter Frampton - maybe this is just the kind of music I don't listen to? You're probably reading the wrong guy here - I have no doubt this is the kind of music that Jeremy Clarkson would like...and I have no doubt that the Hold Steady will be huge (their only drawback Finn's whiney vocals and maybe the band's look, which sounds shallow, but odd looking bands never make it, even with good reviews, e.g. Screaming Trees).
'First Night' can't be disputed really, the kind of song that REM would slay for - this really should be a single and then you can see an Out of Time/Automatic for the People rise to the international. This picks up characters from 'Separation Sunday' and gives a truly epic approach to the subject, with better piano, strings and a building section that invokes the title track. Maybe this is their 'New York City Serendade'? - maybe this is like The Band if they'd listened to punk-rock?
'Party Pit' features some of those E-Street flourishes and the kind of big guitar afflicting a lot of bands at present - like recent records by The Arcade Fire and Keane, you think of the bombastic era of U2 in the 1980s. Steely Dan fans will probably love this album, I'm guessing I'm now the target-market? Like the Wondermints, The Hold Steady seem to be a tribute act to a certain era - more Epcot centre than rock'n'roll. In thrall to certain records and bands, there's a sense that this band want to live in an idealised past - a sort of Dazed and Confused/Born to Run/Detroit Rock City-utopia. They sing about drugs and stuff, but that has been done often, so am not sure what is that new about that - the Roy Bittan-style piano on 'You Can...' makes me want to take drugs (Springsteen-wise, I am a 'Darkness on the Edge of Town/Nebraska'-man).
I find it hard to get through this album, which may not mean it's bad, but just isn't my thing. Maybe this reflects the fact that records are not inherently great if described so? The invocation of Jack Keroauc's 'On the Road' is irritating, like a 'Catcher in the Rye'-reference, it seems over-familiar and ignorant of what followed. I'd probably want to hear the Hold Steady influenced by the much darker 'Big Sur' though...Does this all seem to naive or to in the thrall to the 1970s for me to buy? Is this the future of rock'n'roll? Would Lester Bangs have laughed? Why can I buy salvation from rock'n'roll from Big Star, Dennis Wilson, the 'Mats and Wilco, but not this lot? Don't believe the hype/believe the hype? Questions, questions...
Personally I don't think the Hold Steady are the future of rock'n'roll, they're probably closer to someone like Ryan Adams, The Charlatans and certain Primal Scream, very good at what they do, but probably the wrong side of pastiche. I bet they have very good record collections, but too much of this stuff just turns me back to the other side of rock and my frequent diet of Comets on Fire, The Fall, The Mevlins and Throbbing Gristle. How can punk-rock be invoked when this sounds like FM-radio just before it happened? I've seen and heard the Hold Steady, more the past of rock and roll than the future...
Rating:
- Don't care if it's cool or not
Whether or not it is has been pronounced cool by people with their heads so far up their backsides they couldn't tell a decent song from three feet, this is simply a great album.
Opening track Stuck Between Stations is very early-Springsteenesque, but to level that at the whole album would be generalisation to the point of inaccuracy. Other contemporaries and influnces in there are early-mid REM, Pavement, a touch of BFF and a bit of Drive By Truckers. Perhaps a bit of August and everything after too, but that's no bad thing.
Standout tracks for me are are First Night, You can make him like you and the fantastic Chillout Tents, but the whole album is worthwhile - there's no sense of waiting for the next single to come around. Cliche time: After one listen, you may wonder what the fuss is about. Give it a few plays and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Rating: - I Have Seen The Future Of Rock 'n' Roll.........
Let's get a few things out of the way first. Yes they do sound like early Springsteen, yes they occasionally nick riffs off Thin Lizzy and yes they might be best bar band in the world, but this is the best damn album I've heard in ages. What's not to like - blue collar tales of youth and excess, Craig Finn's scattergun Costello-like phrasing and choruses you can shout along to. Finn may namecheck Minneapolis regularly but these are tales of a teenage wasteland anywhere - chillout tents at Glastonbury or Lollapalooza. What's more it makes even more sense if you see them live. I saw them last night and it was akin to seeing Bruce in '75 or Costello in '77 (in fact I saw Costello in '77 and his performance was as electric). But this is more than just guys of a certain age channelling their inner Springsteen, this is the beginning (or the 3rd album anyway) of something really big. Buy the album, love it and then check 'em out in a dive near you before you can only see them in enormodomes.
Rating:
- Maybe the praise is justified
I first heard about The Hold Steady when Uncut made this 'Album of the Month' and has I have often bought their albums of the month and rarely been disappointed I gave it a go. First of all I can hear all of the pluses and minuses that are covered in the various reviews - the album is exciting and feels fresh and it also reminds me of Springsteen in his 1975-78 (no bad thing) and Craig Finn does have a little of Adam Duritz about him - the guy who was 'moved to tears' because it is so bad and he hates Counting Crows has clearly never listened to either band properly or has a hearing problem - still he doesn't like 'Snore' Patrol so he can't be all bad! There are great songs here and a joy of playing and energy that is infectious - on that basis I feel the praise here and in the press overall is justified. The album rewards the more you listen to it - I have to agree with the guy who thought the production was a bit muddy. The vocals seem low in the mix and there is a feeling of everyone fighting for air at first - but once you get into the songs it doesn't matter anymore - it falls into place. Give it a try - I'm sure that most buyers won't be disappointed.
Rating: - Believe the hype
I bought this album 6 weeks ago on import on the strength of Uncut naming it Album of the Month. Unlike some of the reviewers above I see no reason for disappointment. Indeed on the strength of this I've already purchased the Hold Steady's other two albums and seen them live. The criticisms to date seem to be they are derivative (those who see them as saying nothing new) or they are not derivative enough (those who want them to be a Springsteen/E Street Band tribute band). The reality is like any great band they have their influences but they shape them into something new, helped to a degree by the vocals and lyrics, which to some degree are the USP. As far as I see it most guitar bands at the moment are happy to namecheck and borrow from many bands of the last 40 or so years. THS seem to draw inspiration from a scene that hasn't been revived or plundered for inspiration by the masses and all credit to them for that.
- The future of rock'n' roll? I think not...'Boys and Girls in America' has been greeted with unanimiously great reviews in the UK press, mirroring a similarly ecstatic response from Rolling Stone for the Hold Steady's second LP 'Separation Sunday.' The wave of approval from the press has continued with the Hold Steady's first full-length tour, which saw venues sell out and extra dates being added. Having listened to the album a few times and caught them live at Birmingham Academy, I'm not sure if the Hold Steady are really the future of rock'n'roll. I might be wrong - plenty of others have loved this album and were reacting positively, as I griped in the corner...
Maybe it's the fact The Hold Steady are freely compared to bands like Husker Du and The Replacements, a frequent comparison that I'm sure is now being made by people unfamiliar with those bands. Is this comparison there cos The Hold Steady stem from the same city as those bands?, or worser, cos Craig Finn is a bit chubby like Bob Mould was? I can see them vaguely like late period 'Mats, say All Shook Down or Don't Tell a Soul, but they could be similarly seen as close to Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, or The Wondermints. The comparisons to the Boss I can see, but this probably gives them more credit than they deserve - the opening track is steeped in that 'Born to Run'-thing I like least about the Boss, but it smacks more of Bruce Hornsby and the Range, the kind of act that is completely at odds with the Du or the 'Mats. Finn's storytelling lyrics (probably perfected with the 'Street Hassle'-qualities on the previous conceptual album) are good if you like that kind of thing, though the vocal performance is very Counting Crows - a band I can only take in small doses. I guess you could cite the first two Springsteen/E-Street Band albums, but there's nothing as direct as 'For You' here, and a sense that they'd kill for a song as wild as 'New York Serenade' - the kind of song the Hold Steady might want to make but haven't as yet. I preferred the album to the live version of the band, finding Finn quite whiney live...
There are several songs that follow the standard set on the first two albums, 'Same Kooks', 'Party Pit', 'You Can Make Him Like You', single 'Chips Ahoy!' - the songs on 'Almost Killed Me' and 'Separation Sunday' refined and perfected here. Maybe that makes it too slick for me? - one guitar-solo on 'Same Kooks' made me think of Peter Frampton - maybe this is just the kind of music I don't listen to? You're probably reading the wrong guy here - I have no doubt this is the kind of music that Jeremy Clarkson would like...and I have no doubt that the Hold Steady will be huge (their only drawback Finn's whiney vocals and maybe the band's look, which sounds shallow, but odd looking bands never make it, even with good reviews, e.g. Screaming Trees).
'First Night' can't be disputed really, the kind of song that REM would slay for - this really should be a single and then you can see an Out of Time/Automatic for the People rise to the international. This picks up characters from 'Separation Sunday' and gives a truly epic approach to the subject, with better piano, strings and a building section that invokes the title track. Maybe this is their 'New York City Serendade'? - maybe this is like The Band if they'd listened to punk-rock?
'Party Pit' features some of those E-Street flourishes and the kind of big guitar afflicting a lot of bands at present - like recent records by The Arcade Fire and Keane, you think of the bombastic era of U2 in the 1980s. Steely Dan fans will probably love this album, I'm guessing I'm now the target-market? Like the Wondermints, The Hold Steady seem to be a tribute act to a certain era - more Epcot centre than rock'n'roll. In thrall to certain records and bands, there's a sense that this band want to live in an idealised past - a sort of Dazed and Confused/Born to Run/Detroit Rock City-utopia. They sing about drugs and stuff, but that has been done often, so am not sure what is that new about that - the Roy Bittan-style piano on 'You Can...' makes me want to take drugs (Springsteen-wise, I am a 'Darkness on the Edge of Town/Nebraska'-man).
I find it hard to get through this album, which may not mean it's bad, but just isn't my thing. Maybe this reflects the fact that records are not inherently great if described so? The invocation of Jack Keroauc's 'On the Road' is irritating, like a 'Catcher in the Rye'-reference, it seems over-familiar and ignorant of what followed. I'd probably want to hear the Hold Steady influenced by the much darker 'Big Sur' though...Does this all seem to naive or to in the thrall to the 1970s for me to buy? Is this the future of rock'n'roll? Would Lester Bangs have laughed? Why can I buy salvation from rock'n'roll from Big Star, Dennis Wilson, the 'Mats and Wilco, but not this lot? Don't believe the hype/believe the hype? Questions, questions...
Personally I don't think the Hold Steady are the future of rock'n'roll, they're probably closer to someone like Ryan Adams, The Charlatans and certain Primal Scream, very good at what they do, but probably the wrong side of pastiche. I bet they have very good record collections, but too much of this stuff just turns me back to the other side of rock and my frequent diet of Comets on Fire, The Fall, The Mevlins and Throbbing Gristle. How can punk-rock be invoked when this sounds like FM-radio just before it happened? I've seen and heard the Hold Steady, more the past of rock and roll than the future...
Rating:
- Don't care if it's cool or notWhether or not it is has been pronounced cool by people with their heads so far up their backsides they couldn't tell a decent song from three feet, this is simply a great album.
Opening track Stuck Between Stations is very early-Springsteenesque, but to level that at the whole album would be generalisation to the point of inaccuracy. Other contemporaries and influnces in there are early-mid REM, Pavement, a touch of BFF and a bit of Drive By Truckers. Perhaps a bit of August and everything after too, but that's no bad thing.
Standout tracks for me are are First Night, You can make him like you and the fantastic Chillout Tents, but the whole album is worthwhile - there's no sense of waiting for the next single to come around. Cliche time: After one listen, you may wonder what the fuss is about. Give it a few plays and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Rating:
- I Have Seen The Future Of Rock 'n' Roll.........Let's get a few things out of the way first. Yes they do sound like early Springsteen, yes they occasionally nick riffs off Thin Lizzy and yes they might be best bar band in the world, but this is the best damn album I've heard in ages. What's not to like - blue collar tales of youth and excess, Craig Finn's scattergun Costello-like phrasing and choruses you can shout along to. Finn may namecheck Minneapolis regularly but these are tales of a teenage wasteland anywhere - chillout tents at Glastonbury or Lollapalooza. What's more it makes even more sense if you see them live. I saw them last night and it was akin to seeing Bruce in '75 or Costello in '77 (in fact I saw Costello in '77 and his performance was as electric). But this is more than just guys of a certain age channelling their inner Springsteen, this is the beginning (or the 3rd album anyway) of something really big. Buy the album, love it and then check 'em out in a dive near you before you can only see them in enormodomes.
Rating:
- Maybe the praise is justifiedI first heard about The Hold Steady when Uncut made this 'Album of the Month' and has I have often bought their albums of the month and rarely been disappointed I gave it a go. First of all I can hear all of the pluses and minuses that are covered in the various reviews - the album is exciting and feels fresh and it also reminds me of Springsteen in his 1975-78 (no bad thing) and Craig Finn does have a little of Adam Duritz about him - the guy who was 'moved to tears' because it is so bad and he hates Counting Crows has clearly never listened to either band properly or has a hearing problem - still he doesn't like 'Snore' Patrol so he can't be all bad! There are great songs here and a joy of playing and energy that is infectious - on that basis I feel the praise here and in the press overall is justified. The album rewards the more you listen to it - I have to agree with the guy who thought the production was a bit muddy. The vocals seem low in the mix and there is a feeling of everyone fighting for air at first - but once you get into the songs it doesn't matter anymore - it falls into place. Give it a try - I'm sure that most buyers won't be disappointed.
Rating:
- Believe the hypeI bought this album 6 weeks ago on import on the strength of Uncut naming it Album of the Month. Unlike some of the reviewers above I see no reason for disappointment. Indeed on the strength of this I've already purchased the Hold Steady's other two albums and seen them live. The criticisms to date seem to be they are derivative (those who see them as saying nothing new) or they are not derivative enough (those who want them to be a Springsteen/E Street Band tribute band). The reality is like any great band they have their influences but they shape them into something new, helped to a degree by the vocals and lyrics, which to some degree are the USP. As far as I see it most guitar bands at the moment are happy to namecheck and borrow from many bands of the last 40 or so years. THS seem to draw inspiration from a scene that hasn't been revived or plundered for inspiration by the masses and all credit to them for that.