Boys and Girls in America

by

The Hold Steady

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How could they possibly top Separation Sunday, you're thinking. I'm not sure how they did it, either, but it's true: The Hold Steady's latest, Boys and Girls in America, is their magnum opus and hopefully the shiny silver platter that propels them to the success they so deserve. Craig Finn's poetic lyrics are as good as ever here as he recounts romancing gamblers ("Chips Ahoy"), near death experiences at druggy music festivals("Chillout Tent," with excellent guest vocals by Dave Pirner), slick alibis for mall altercations ("Hot Soft Light), and more. Old characters return, and the music has never sounded better: crunchy guitars, tinkling keyboards, and that filthy, real, barroom feel. An outstanding effort. They'll be hard-pressed to top this one, but won't it be fun to be along for the ride as they try?

Kind of like Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen, Ted Leo, and Elvis Costello all mushed up together? This band brings a fresh sound, kind of like americana stadium rock. I'm having a hard time putting my finger on this album. People talk about the lyrics a lot, and song lyrics are all well and good, but they rock so loud and the lead kind of mumbles a lot so if the lyrics are so important shouldn't you expect to understand them? Now that I think of it, it's a lot like Widespread Panic. Anyways it is good, but I wouldn't say great because there isn't much original about the music. Springsteen, Warren Zevon and Delbert McClinton do it better.

All of the songs are far too rushed as well, The Hold Steady takes songs that could easily be eight minutes and packs them into three or four. Crunching ZZ Top guitar solos and The Band Hammond B-3 solos into ten seconds seems counter productive. Even on "First Night" the piano is not powerful enough, and the pedal steel is very weak; somtimes you can sort of hear strings in the background.

A fun listen, but it's not impressionable and leaves much to be desired.