The Hold Steady

[AdamH]

There's an interesting buzz about these guys, here's the description from someone I trust:

Here's a music tip for you hipsters. The Hold Steady was the best new discovery for me at Lollapalooza. Forget about the stupid description below. The singer is this twitchy guy with horn-rimmed glasses who speak-sings these intense and complex tales of adolescence: dating mishaps, aimless meandering evenings with the boys, etc. It sounds dumb but he depicts the whole situation with uncanny accuracy. A lot of guys liked to identify with Bruce Springsteen's charcters, but all along we really suspected that we were more like the guys The Hold Steady sings about

They're playiong at Zaphod's in October, tickets available here: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/10003D271BEBB8C7

What can you tell me about them?

[ollie]

Thanks for posting this, I was gonna post about the Zaphod's show yesterday but forgot.

I like these guys a lot... refined, dare I say mature, in-your-face guitar rock. The singer has a unique voice and style that is what really makes the band stick out.

I was very excited to see the announcement in the XPress yesterday. Should be a great, intimate setting.

Tickets on sale at noon!

[bONES]

they are also playing a Toronto show..

Oct 28 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

[ollie]

Has anyone picked up their new album, Boys and Girls in America? I've been listening to it for the past two weeks and I just realized I love every song on the album. Fack is it ever good!! Check 'em out.

The show at Zaphods was great too.

[dave-O]

Killer album. I wanted to hate it because of the blatant E-Street Band influence, but I think it's my top choice for album of the year. I can't stop listening to it.

How was their live show Ollie? I'm guessing boozy and loud??

[AdamH]

"Guys go for looks, girls go for status"

[ollie]

How was their live show Ollie? I'm guessing boozy and loud??

I was definitely boozy. But I think the band's reputation precedes them a bit... sure they drank beer on stage but it was an otherwise professional performance. Maybe it was the Sunday night.

I was surprised at how melodic a band they are. I got more of a classic rock vibe from Separation Sunday but I was totally offbase. The show gave me a whole new appreciation for them.

[ollie]

Forgot to post this... link to review w/pictures and mp3s of the whole show:

http://mockingmusic.blogspot.com/2006/11/hold-steady-live.html

[dave-O]

she put 900 dollars

on the fifth horse

in the sixth race

i think his name was chips ahoy.

came in six lengths ahead

we spent the whole next week getting high

at first i thought that she hit

on some tip that she got from some other boy.

[ollie]

Love their lyrics!! I was just chuckling along to Chillout Tent:

there was a stage and a PA up in western massachuttes,

and the kids came from miles around to get messed up on the music.

and she drove down from Boden with a carload of girlfriends,

to meet some boys and maybe eat some mushrooms

and they did and she got sick

and now she's pinned and way too shaky.

she don't wanna tell the doctor everything she's taken

the paramedics hovered over her like a somber mourning family

they gave her activating charcoal, they flooded her with saline

her:

"I got really hot and then I came to in the chillout tent,

they gave me oranges and cigarettes."

he was rough around the edges:

he'd been to school, but never finished,

he'd been to jail, but never prison.

it was his first day off in forever, man

the festival seemed like a pretty good plan,

cruise some chicks and get a sun-tan.

and his friend gave him four, but said only take one,

but then he got bored and ended up taking all four.

ah, so now my man ain't that bored anyways,

the paramedics found him: he was shaking on the side of the stage.

him:

"Everything was spinning and I came to in the chillout tent, they gave me oranges and cigarettes."

her:

"I got really hot and then I came to in the chillout tent"

both:

"They gave us oranges and cigarettes."

she looked just like a baby bird, all new and wet and trying to light a Parliament

he quoted her some poetry, he's Tennyson in denim and sheepskin.

he looked a lot like Izzy Stradlin.

they started kissing when the nurses took off their IVs,

it was kinda sexy, but it was kinda creepy.

their mouths were fizzy with the cherry cola,

they had the privacy of bedsheets

and all the other kids were mostly in comas.

her:

"He was kinda cute, we kinda kicked it in the chillout tent, and I never saw that boy again."

him:

"She was pretty cool, we kinda kicked in the chillout tent, and I never saw that girl again."

her:

"He was kinda cute, we kinda kicked it in the chillout tent, and I never saw that boy again."

him:

"She seemed pretty cool, we kinda kicked it in the chillout tent, and I never saw that girl again."

[dave-O]

The Kerouac reference and the devil and John Berryman bit in Stuck Between Stations is what hooked me from the get-go.

[ollie]

Killer album. I wanted to hate it because of the blatant E-Street Band influence, but I think it's my top choice for album of the year. I can't stop listening to it.

Good call on the influence. I also hear some Elvis Costello and New Bomb Turks.

Yeah, I'm listening to this disc again.

[dave-O]

It's all about the piano.

[ollie]

There's a new Hold Steady interview up on Pitchfork.

Interview: The Hold Steady

Anyone besides me and dave-o into these guys? They are so f'in good!!

[scottieking]

I cannot get enough of this album. It is in my top 10 of the year for sure.

[ollie]

I cannot get enough of this album. It is in my top 10 of the year for sure.

It made #5 on Pitchfork Media's best of 2006:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40007/Staff_List_Top_50_Albums_of_2006/page_5

[dave-O]

Hey Ollie check it out - Boys and Girls in America now available in both blue and pick vinyl.

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/theholdsteady/product_info.php?products_id=1386&cPath=237_238&store=1

[ollie]

Awesome.

I found this clip last night, from a Letterman performance a couple of weeks ago. It's only a matter of time before these guys "blow up".

Stuck Between Stations

[Jaimoe]

It's pretty exciting watching a band do a one-off on Letterman and OWN the stage. Power-pop at its finest.

As Conan O'Brien said after seeing MMJ perform for the first time (One Big Holiday): "I'm buying that album"!

[Jaimoe]

I like the E Street influence and given Bruce's legacy, I've never heard many bands that have an E Street/New Jersey 70's sound.

[Northern Wish]

I am the only one that thinks they rip on Thin Lizzy more than the E Street Band?!?!

Don't get me wrong, I love the cd; but its way more Jailbreak, than Born to Run.

Sean

[scottieking]

Do yourself a favor folks and go back and get the first two albums - Almost Killed Me 2004

Separation Sunday 2005

I'm so into the first one right now. A must.

[ollie]

I'm so into the first one right now. A must.

Will do pronto. I actually like the last two so much I was afraid to ruin the experience with a mediocre debut, if that makes any sense.

[ollie]

Stuck Between Stations was used as bumper music for a Peyton Manning piece on the pre-game show today. Was it someone here who mentioned their potential appeal to the football crowd?