A little earlier this year, The Hold Steady got above their station and became the most-acclaimed rock act from Over There to land Over Here since the last blew in on the wind and fucked off as fast as they arrived band from the Land of the Free to set domestic indie-boy journalistic pulses racing like a one-to-one with a Chan Marshall look-alike after a bottle or two of Jim Beam. The Why: the band sounded a lot like Bruce Springsteen. The Why: still confuses the fuck out of me.
The Hold Steady ain’t a bad band. They play piano-aided indie, ideally suited to the backroom of a bar in downtown NYC, perfectly well, and vocalist Craig Finn knows his way around a turn of phrase or five, but they’re a compositional echo of successes past, really not so relevant in a contemporary scene that has a Springsteen already. They’re intentionally restrictive in their arrangements, rarely reaching a climax or flourish here, and possess all the creative juices of Cher, post-Millennium model. ‘Stuck Between Stations’ makes sense as a title: this band haven’t particularly progressed for years.
Which, ultimately, makes their workmanlike rock for the weaker-than classes fairly redundant. A waste of time, no, but worthy of rushing outside and hollering in the streets about? Absolutely not. While Springsteen danced his way in and out of the dark, it seems The Hold Steady are destined to return to it just as speedily as their profile rocketed skyward but months ago. Obscurity beckons once more, methinks.
What absolute balls.
This is one of the best songs of the year - a huge, windswept, passion-addled TUNE of a thing. So far this year, The Hold Steady have been, for me, the first genuinely, refreshingly, brilliantly uncool and totally different-sounding band I've heard in ages. And I don't like Springsteen. At all.
That said, I've just read through your recent reviews and noted that you've slated Feist's latest single but given My Chemical Romance 9/10. So I guess we'll have to keep living peacefully in parallel universes.
i disagree
the hold steady rule my world, its still my favourite album of the year.
They are still a pretty marmite band though, having said that the people i do know who hate them have a pretty closed musical mind.
Yeah
"Bruce Springsteen. He's a cunt"
why
do the Hold Steady get such bad reviews on DiS? I couldn't disagree more with this review.
One of the best singles
so far this year
they were brilliant (if for the the shakey shakey singer) on jools
fifthed...
if that's a word.
I thought they were excellent on Jools
that inspired me to find some of their other stuff, i'd give them a 6 as a band, as they were better on Jools than on record, but this single is worthy of an 8 or 9. Who cares if Springsteen's already around, this is great pop music.
So let me get this straight...
Two of the doubtlessly best songs on the album averaging a 4, and the album gets a 6?
Add about 3 to both scores and you have your REAL average
i'ts all
about citrus.
lyrical brilliance.
Cody
That is drivel. I dare say even ignorant drivel. The Hold Steady are absolutely brilliant and this single wipes the floor with more or less every other single I've heard this year. I echo the sentiments of OceanStorm, why DiS gives this band such cruddy reviews is a mystery. Stick with My Chemical Romance then Cody, sounds like Early Learning Centre 'rock' is more up your street.
This band is incredible.
Regardless of how much this band is "progressing," I don't understand how anyone could review this so averagely. It's brilliantly written, smart, and brings a shit-eating grin to my face every I hear it.
laughable,
seriously now does DIS have no quality control at all? the sad thing is im probably just jealous i could never be as cool as this cody fella
Have to agree...
Shit review. The Hold Steady are shameless, unabashed, classic rock'n'roll. And that's what makes them great!
Cody Jefferson
has taken a rollicking.
cody jefferson
he writes like he's ashamed of his opinions
he writes like he's someone else who wants to say something else but is too scared
this review
is fucking retarded. 'this band haven't particularly progressed for years'? a band who released their first album in 2004? bruce springsteen references are lazy, and seem to be used as a point of reference to this band by reviewers who aren't actually that familiar with either springsteen or the hold steady. anyway, the whole focus of the band is craig finn's lyrics and delivery, which are barely mentioned. and cher? fuck you.
and another thing...
separation sunday and boys and girls in america are very different albums. to me theres a lot of progression there. but whatever, fuck you etcetera...
Musically talented version of Dennis Leary
Seriously, am I the only one who hears "I drive real slow in the ultra-fast lane, while people behind me are going insane..."
One thing the Boss could never be accused of was being a fucking smartass. Not these guys. Oh no. Finn sneers so goddamn loud that eventually he's the only thing you can hear.
Music for half-crocked American lit grad students. Yuck.
Cody Jefferson.....
....should be fired, along with the rest of the DiS reviewers as you haven't got a clue. Losers. What sort of name is Cody Jefferson? Sounds like a high school jock (cock). Get back to captaining the soccer team and dating the best girl at high school and stop reviewing music as that is probably the only thing you are rubbish at you bell end.
I don't think
he's sneering at all. More lamenting the desperate sadness of the youth of today, gore blimey.
Anyway - they give the audience fags (in the British sense of the word, just to clarify) at their gigs. Which makes them Total Heroes.
One headband
away from a Springsteen tribute act.
This review is dross...
the song is class
I think...
....this is possibly one of the most ill-informed, ignorant reviews I have ever had the displeasure to read.
Y'know...
I trust DiS. Really. They're the tops because they always seem to be dead right when it comes to record reviews.
I had to take a double take when I saw the Boys And Girls In America review, and this single review. I've lost a lot of faith with these two reviews, what, with giving an absolutely BRILLIANT record a terrible review, and giving the two best songs from said record a worse review. Bollocks.
That said, I'm seeing these guys at the end of the month. I can't fucking wait.
Sometimes people think differently
Yup.
The sound like The Replacements
which can't be a bad thing.