(Rough Trade/Vagrant Records)

We gotta stay positive

For a lot of people there’s no band quite like Brooklyn’s The Hold Steady. Frontman Craig Finn’s flow-of-consciousness narration – and narration is precisely what it is – spews through the quintet’s hard-drinking, fast-living bar-band aesthetic. Razor-sharp guitar riffs (it is rock & roll, after all) provide a vehicle for Finn’s characters to make "terrible decisions", and in true storytelling fashion some of "life’s most valuable lessons" are offered. It’s the conviction that sells it, stretching effortlessly between piety ("Lord, I’m sorry to question your wisdom / But my faith has been wavering") and grit ("He didn’t seem that different / Except for that blood on his jacket") and that contrast is the real reward. In many ways Stay Positive (their fourth long-player, by the way) is a typical Hold Steady record filled with endless references to their back catalogue, citing idols like ("Saint") Joe Strummer (of The Clash), Zeppelin (of Led) and Springsteen (of Bruce). The opener Constructive Summer, appropriately, bursts into an optimistic anthem until Sequestered In Memphis kicks in where the band are quick to indulge their heritage. This record attempts to keep you interested through slight experimentation with One For The Cutters’ piratical mandolin and Navy Sheets’ sporadic synth stabs which, frankly, isn’t enough of a departure to tempt critics of their earlier efforts. It’s still Finn’s sense of drama that demands attention. Essentially, Stay Positive has The Hold Steady building on their bar-band styling, and if you’re a fan – and I am – there’s nothing to dislike.

***½

THOMAS NASH

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*