They wanna rock ’n’ roll all night and party every day.
The Hold Steady - Stay PositivePosted by Scott Heisel on 23-Jun-08 @ 11:01 AM
[4.5/5]Since I first received an advance CD-R in the summer of 2006, a copy of the Hold Steady's Boys And Girls In America has always been in my car. The yarns Craig Finn spins and the riffs Tad Kubler pound out are absolutely perfect for driving (just try to make it through the guitar solo on "Two Kooks" without going at least 15mph over the speed limit). Listening to the Hold Steady standing still defeats the purpose of the band; the Brooklyn quintet seemingly exist to cause motion and movement. Stay Positive, the band's fourth full-length, surprisingly deviates from that blueprint into a darker spectrum, yet it maintains a high level of musical and lyrical quality unmatched by anything Pitchfork is currently jocking. Before it was ever heard publicly, Vagrant Records had Stay Positive remastered to be "brighter," which will probably be the album's biggest asset: Tracks like the moody, acoustic "Both Crosses" (with J Mascis on banjo) and the harpsichord-driven waltz of "One For The Cutters" are dark on subject material and musical mood as it is, and anything darker would've put a damper on an otherwise explosive record. The production tweaks put on by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Jawbox) help more midtempo numbers like "Magazines" (featuring Lucero's Ben Nichols) and "Yeah Sapphire" come to life, as well. Finn and Kubler seem to be in a constant game of one-upmanship; the former's dramatically improved vocal melodies are only bested by the latter's six-stringed showmanship. Of course, the group's real secret weapon is keyboardist Franz Nicolay, who can take an otherwise ho-hum song ("Joke About Jamaica") and turn it into a passionate call to arms with his Andrew W.K.-covering-"Raphsody In Blue" piano pounding. Nicolay's contributions never overshadow the meat-and-potatoes rock that Finn and Kubler dish out, yet he always finds just the right countermelody or accent to take the song to the next level. The Hold Steady's music has recently been labeled as "inclusion rock"--wide-reaching songs that try to positively affect as many people as possible (i.e. Bruce Springsteen at his most arena-rocking). There really isn't a truer phrase to sum up the Hold Steady. Their wink-and-nod classic rock appeals to parents for the same reason it attracts their offspring: All you need to do is pump your fist and sing along, and all the world's problems go away. As Finn intones on the title track behind a chorus of "whoa-oh"s, "We gotta stay positive." He's doing his part. (VAGRANT) Scott Heisel ROCKS LIKE Lucero's Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers The Loved Ones' Build & Burn Bruce Springsteen's The Rising  Official Website: http://www.vagrant.com
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