A People’s Tour of B-Sides: The Hold Steady
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
- John Lennon
If a band’s albums are the musical path they choose to chart, their b-sides are often the unexpected detours that, I’d suggest, reveal a bit more about their tendencies than the thoughtfully recorded and carefully sequenced documents they release every two years or so. (Except for the White Stripes, who seemed to care not too much at all about being careful or deliberate.)
In the case of the Hold Steady, their debut is the hard-charging introduction, Separation Sunday is the ambitious mission statement, Boys and Girls in America is the beginning of the party, Stay Positive is the start of the come-down, and Heaven is Whenever is a band trying to figure out what to do next. The contemporaneous b-sides and ephemera, however, paint a different picture. Read More…
Craig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes (a review)
In retrospect, the last Hold Steady record was the exact opposite of a sleeper – it sounded great on first listen, all hooks and guitar fire, but in the end felt paper thin, an album of an idea rather than of ideas, and outside of a couple highlights (“Sweet Part of the City,” “Barely Breathing”), I haven’t gone back to it frequently, preferring Separation Sunday or Stay Positive or even b-sides.
Which is why this new Craig Finn record is such a pleasant surprise – it doesn’t sound unlike a Hold Steady record any more than an Extra Glenns (Lens) record sounds unlike a Mountain Goats record (i.e. not much at all) as much as it sounds like an interesting sidestep from the pressure of making a record under the appellations of those bands – the pressure to make something that SOUNDS like a Hold Steady record. Read More…
The 10 Best Albums of 2010, Part 1
(You will not find it surprising that we are running end of year posts all this week. Today – best albums from limesix, tomorrow – a double-disc best songs mix, friday – best albums from cjkc.)
For the rest of forever, I will probably compare every new music year semi-unfavorably to 2005, when my best-of list ran deep into the 20s with albums I actually loved and listened to a ton. Apart from that aberration, I’d say every year has about 10 excellent albums that will continue to demand my attention and time into the new year, which, honestly, is probably more than enough. Don’t we all really listen to far too many albums nowadays?
On that note and only partially tangentially, I actually sold all my CDs this year and will be attempting to listen a LOT more to the 100-200 actual vinyl records I own (and the 10 – 15 I buy this year) than the 3300 albums I have in my iTunes library. Let’s call it a resolution.
Of course, all this is distracting from (and/or straight up contradictory to) the task at hand – ranking some records! Let’s face it, The Suburbs won’t decide for itself whether it’s better or worse than This is Happening (worse) or False Priest (a little better). Read More…
The Hold Steady: “Cattle and the Creeping Things”
This might be the best song ever (thought I on my 100th or so listen).
The Henry Clay People: “This Ain’t a Scene”
I’m aware this Henry Clay People song/album sounds a lot like the Hold Steady, and I’m aware that the Hold Steady sound like lots of other things, but also, shut up. This song is excellent, and the album is pretty great too.
The Henry Clay People: “This Ain’t a Scene” (right-click to download)
Ephemera Wednesday: The Hold Steady – “Hot Fries”
The Hold Steady's debut, Almost Killed Me
It has come to my attention (read: I thought about it) that I don’t post nearly enough about the Hold Steady, which is in large part because I wasn’t writing this blog when Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America came out. The new albums are fine, but my fickle ears venture outwards and forget that I should be peppering you with occasional bits of Hold Steady wisdom or ephemera or both. Read More…
The Hold Steady: “The Sweet Part of the City”
I’ve already written about the new Hold Steady record, Heaven is Whenever, which officially came out today. I’ve also listened to it another 10 or 12 times since then, and I’m still not sure where it sits in their catalog for me. It’s more immediately appealing than Stay Positive, but not as rich or textured as Separation Sunday or Boys and Girls in America. It’s got the first real dud of a closing song on any of their albums, which sucks, but the opener is as good or better than “Constructive Summer” or “Hornets! Hornets!”, which is saying something.
I definitely disagree with the Pitchfork line, which, although not totally negative, is (to sum up) that it’s sloppily produced (I think the production is better than any of their albums except for Separation Sunday) and an unfocused transition record (I think that description is much more apt for Stay Positive). I think they knew exactly what they were doing – making a widely-appealing, uncomplicated rock record with big solos, big choruses, and lots of guitars. On that note, it succeeds perfectly. Mostly, however, it doesn’t rise above those ambitions – except for on the aforementioned sublime first track, “The Sweet Part of the City,” which I share here.
The Hold Steady: “The Sweet Part of the City” (right-click to download)
The Hold Steady: Heaven is Whenever
(a note: I’m not posting any mp3s here because the album isn’t out yet – you can and should pre-order it here if you like physical things like CDs and 7″s and vinyl, and here if you don’t care about that and/or want two extra songs.)
When I was 15, I listened to Poison and Warrant and Guns n’ Roses and Def Leppard and Bon Jovi and Prince. Now I’m 35 and I listen to LCD Soundsystem and Los Campesinos and the Mountain Goats and Yo La Tengo and Neutral Milk Hotel and Prince. Whether that’s an improvement, I suppose, depends on your personal tastes, but either way, I’ve spent the intervening 20 years searching for music, expanding my horizons (or at least discovering their boundaries), and generally learning more and more about what I like and why. Read More…
LFTR PLLR vs. Being Awesome
LIfter Puller's masterpiece, Fiestas and Fiascos.
I can’t claim that I loved Lifter Puller back when they were still around. Like most people who’ve heard of them (probably), I first checked them out after falling in love with the Hold Steady. And it took a while for them to grow on me – unlike the Hold Steady, they’re a lot more angular, not nearly as melodic, and generally not musically hooky at all.
But Craig Finn fronts them, so like the Hold Steady, there are recurring characters, locations, and events threaded throughout the songs. Nightclub Dwight, his nightclub the Nice Nice (that he won rolling dice dice), Katrina, the Eye-Patch guy – taken song by song, it doesn’t make a ton of sense, but over the course of 3 records and one EP, it all sort of gels and wins you over.
This is in large part because Craig Finn is either the best or second best lyricist in pop music (John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats being his only real competition for the title). His songs are riddled with drugs and alcohol and sex and people doing unwise things for unclear motives, but you can tell he loves them and wants everything to turn out all right.
Anyway, all the albums are out of print, though there are promises of some sort of box set to come, but you can still get them from Emusic and/or Amazon MP3. I couldn’t think of a better use for like 20$ worth of your money (other than, you know, food and stuff). Here are a few songs to whet your whistle.
Lifter Puller: “Plymouth Rock” (right-click to download)
- The best 49 second song ever.
Lifter Puller: “Space Humping $19.99″
LIfter Puller: “Nassau Coliseum”
Lifter Puller: “The Flex And The Buff Result”
- The final Lifter Puller song.
