Get thee to Best Buy for your copy of one of the best CDs of the year, The Hold Steady's "Stay Positive," which drops today. A jubilant and exuberant Chris confirms:
“For my money, no band is more in tune with the lives of the youth of today and what becomes of said ‘youth’ once adulthood comes calling. While some in this country would have you believe that growing up in the suburbs is a sheltered, sterile environment, The Hold Steady songs are a sort of rock drama about what really goes on when school’s out and the kids go to shows, camp, the beach or wherever. They also remind us that a band can sing about being down, out and wasted, and still come away with a positive outlook about life.”
If you need more credible reviews, will these work for you?
From Entertainment Weekly:
“While some of [lead singer Craig] Finn’s characters come to dead ends, the music stays in a state of arrested exhilaration. The single ‘Sequestered in Memphis,’ with its piano arpeggios, sax honking and sing-along chorus, swings like early E Street Band; never mind that the narrator is coughing up details about a one-night stand as part of a murder investigation. What keeps it all from being a classic-rock pastiche is Finn’s drolly rendered vocals and weird storytelling, which make the Hold Steady something you’re certain you’ve never heard before.”
From yesterday’s Paste Magazine review:
"Craig Finn just might be the most self-aware frontman in rock ’n’ roll. 'Our songs are sing-along songs,' he declares on Stay Positive’s opener 'Constructive Summer,' and a couple verses later he shows instead of tells. 'Me and my friends are like,' begins the line, before Finn is joined by backing vocals for 'double whiskey, coke, no ice.' It’s a moment that begs for a full room’s worth of shouting as uniting as “LEONARD BERNSTEIN!” during that R.E.M. song about the end of the world. Finn intuitively knows this, tossing off lines just like it throughout Stay Positive—it’s yet another reason The Hold Steady is one of the best bands in America."
From yesterday’s Pitchfork review:
"While its title and lyrics often make Stay Positive sound like a darkest-before-the-dawn kind of record, the themes Finn keeps returning to — skipping town, starting over clean, resurrection — all speak to the redemptive power of second chances. When The Hold Steady plead with you to 'stay positive,' and you consider their unlikely and continued ascendancy, you could do worse than take them at their word."
Counters CW’s Music Director, the positively radiant Tim H:
"Um, this band is kinda wack. The subject matter and imagery are a bit intense for me, and the lead singer’s voice makes me uncomfortable. See, I’m into more of a new wave-club tempo sound with a good beat and fun lyrics. Borderline Eurotrash stuff. But alas, this is Chris’s favorite band at the moment, and with this recession looming I’d like to secure my role here at CW. I’m a team player, and I do stay positive. Always have, always will. Time to slap on a wife-beater, throw back a double whiskey/Coke/no ice and give it a second listen. Anything for you, buddy!”
The first 50,000 copies include three bonus tracks so don't haste. Write to CW with your reviews of Stay Positive at bigjuicyvanATgmailDOTcom.
Chris Weekly: We’re gonna build somethin’ this summer!
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