The Hold Steady
Boys And Girls In America
The Hold Steady continue on their trek to be the best damn American band that America's spawned--although the Hold Steady aren't really from America (they're from Brooklyn, by way of Minnesota--and that's the Holy Land, as far as we're concerned.) No, the Hold Steady have, three albums in, thrown out the challenge, ordering young men and women back into the drunken fray--time to loosen ties and skirts and booze the night back into the clubs. If Craig Finn ever heard people complaining about the benefits of vegetable oil or PETA, he doesn't let on--and even if he did, we wouldn't notice. Boys and Girls In America is all about throwing up and screwing, in that order, the reverse or the same time: it's about being gross, sweaty and crazy as hell--and that's what makes them such a hellacious good time. Although it's (regardless of what you might have heard) no Separation Sunday, it's got merit, it's got class, and it's made of strong stuff. Ignoring the Hold Steady is becoming less and less an action that makes any sense: saying one doesn't like them is something that's hard to believe--a couple more albums like this and it'll be like saying one doesn't like one's mother--totally, resolutely Un-American.
Of course, by that point the Arctic Monkeys will have probably made another album.
-Tucker Stone, 2006
If you're digging on the Hold Steady, but you're ready to sack out for the night, The Evens mid-06 release is just the sort of thing to let the Corona settle: just remember to sleep on your side or you'll drown.
I can't get enough of this album. Really, just when I think I've heard to much, I want to hear it again. I think Craig Finn is haunting me.
Posted by: Bad Andy | 2006.12.20 at 00:18
what a snooze fest of an album...
Posted by: andre | 2006.12.20 at 17:14