Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements are pretty lofty company, but those are the two most frequently cited artists when people talk about Minneapolis' The Hold Steady. And neither is too far off-base.Stay Positive is the band's latest studio album and the follow-up to 2006's Boys and Girls In America (one of my Desert Island Discs).
The album kicks off with the frenetic feel-good summer song, "Construcitve Summer" and doesn't let up until the final "Whooooa-ohhhs" of the closing anthem "Slapped Actress". Along the way we are treated to a rollercoaster ride featuring the themes and everyday characters we have become familiar with over our journey with the band.
Part of the magic of The Hold Steady is that Craig Finn and company write about issues and situations that are familiar to their audience. The tracks on Stay Positive are no exception. We get our sex ("Navy Sheets"), lost love ("Lord, I'm Discouraged"), booze ("Constructive Summer"), family ("Magazines"), and middle American teenage alienation ("One For the Cutters").
Musically, we do get some different sounds than in the past. Franz Nicolai's keyboard have been pulled to the forefront in the mix, in many cases the songs have obviously been structured around them. There's a wider variety of keyboard sounds present as well, ranging from traditional piano to "wah wah" synth. We also get horns and banjo that really haven't been featured in the past.
Best of all, the songs are just as catchy as ever. You have fun taking a ride with The Hold Steady. I'd be "Sequestered In Memphis" with this record any day.
The album is available now through iTunes and will be released as a physical CD on July 15th. The CD will apparently be released with three additional bonus tracks.
Tracklisting for Stay Positive:
- Constructive Summer
- Sequestered In Memphis
- One For the Cutters
- Navy Sheets
- Lord, I'm Discouraged
- Yeah Sapphire
- Both Crosses
- Stay Positive
- Magazines
- Joke About Jamaica
- Slapped Actress
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