Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Catching on Waaaaaayyyyyyy Too Late

One of the best albums I've purchased this year is The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America. Unfortunately it finds itself ineligible for any Top Ten albums status because it actually came out last year. But I didn't buy it until some point this year. Well, i've loved it and would consider it one of my favorite albums.....EVER. (GASPS are heard in the background....)

This being the case, i just downloaded their previous album, Separation Sunday, which came out way the heck back in 2005. Better late than never, I suppose. Well.....go figure....i love this one, too!! Its another great album. I love their lead singer Crain Finn's clever lyricism and delivery. He sings a lot about growing up in the Minneapolis suburbs, drugs, drinking, going to parties, drugs, and drugs....all while using some very unexpected Christian undertones. Its unlike anything else I've ever heard. Its not a Hold Steady song unless it includes one lyric that makes you think, "Damn, I wish I would've thought of that." The winner from the Boys and Girls album comes from the song Citrus....."lost in fog and love and faithless fear,
I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere." That's one I wish I had in my back catalog (it would increase the number of clever lyrics I've come up with to an astounding total of 1). I haven't heard much by the way of new albums coming out, but I can guarantee this will be a "buy on the release date" CD.

Anyways....Separation Sunday......here's two tracks that I think are good representatives of the rest of the albums.

The Hold Steady - Cattle and the Creeping Things (good example of the unexpected Christian references)
The Hold Steady - Multitude of Casualties

Love the lyric in this one, "At least in dying you don't have to deal with new wave for a second time." HA! That's great. Suck it, New Order.

You can purchase all their albums for a very reasonable $10 at their website here. Very very worth it.

PS Okkervil River's got some stuff up on Daytrotter's website now....check it out if you get a chance.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bought the Boys and Girls in January this year...got me through the winter...and the Summer...and the fall.

Agreed, it is one of the most solid rock and roll albums I have heard in years.

Anonymous said...

Gotta agree with the love for Boys and Girls. It was my favorite album of 2006 by a long shot.

You pinpointed the exact reason I like these guys and Craig Finn's songwriting. On the surface, their lyrics are completely juvenial, but the underlying tension between religion (as you mention) esp. and the partying and debauchery is something I could relate to as a youngin' and still today. It doesn't hurt that they play some great, catchy guitar hooks.

I do like Separation Sunday a little better because, although I thinks Boys and Girls has a lot of good songs from top to bottom, Separation Sunday has some really great tunes. Cattle and the Creeping Things, Little Hoodrat Friend, Charlemegne In Sweatpants, Banging Camp, Stevie Nix are all badass!

Anyway, enough rambling. Better late than never is what I say.

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