The Hold Steady

Dear Fellow Hold Steady Fan:

Have you heard The Hold Steady’s new album? Yeah? Yeah, it’s pretty good. I mean, it’s no Separation Sunday, that’s for sure. But it still rocks—it’s a good summer record. They’ve lightened up, don’t you think? Yeah, I guess the Stay Positive album title implies that. It just seems like Craig Finn got it out of his system a few years ago and now he and his mates are just having a good time. Did you hear the new lighthearted kind of sounds th... MORE

At the Pitchfork Music Festival the VIP pass is good for two things and two things only: FREE beer and Chipotle burritos. Sure you get to hobknob with the indie rock cool crowd and hi-5 the Ice Cream man, but nothing beats the taste of a nice wheat 312 or a filling burrito on a hot (rainy) summer day. So when some pals fell short we had to get crafty …really crafty.

Thank God for the rain. While it created a mud fest, it also forged a make shift VIP wristband…a la the fre... MORE

These video interviews are killer! Enjoy.... on meeting heroes: http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady1 on stay positive, their new album: http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady2 on their favorite music http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady3 on rock and religion http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady4

  With all the hoopla of Coachella and Bonnaroo, with Virgin and APW and Lolla, we tend to forget the small music festivals.  I, too, have been remiss about touting the greatness of local block parties; despite the lack of huge name headliners, there is often such lovely aural goodness to indulge in.
So, in that vein, I give you a belated post on Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party.  Late July finds 4 blocks on Seattle’s busy Capitol Hill filled with people and stages and... MORE

Mog interviewed The Hold Steady's Craig Finn recently and he had plenty to say about some of his favorite artists of all time, meeting Bruce Springsteen and The Clash's Joe Strummer, bands he's into right now, the first concert he attended, the group's latest album, Stay Positive, and lots more.   Check out these clips:   Meeting Springsteen and Strummer: http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady1
  Stay Positive: http://mog.com/mogtv/hold_steady2   Favorite Music: htt... MORE

OK.  I am thoroughly convinced that iTunes (or the record companies) skew sales #'s of a band's most popular song(s) to reflect the single of the newest album.  If you're scratching your head, let me explain.  I am not a huge supporter of iTunes.  Let me rephrase that - I'm not fanatical about the iTunes Store.  The reviews of albums are frequently slanted in favor of the band.  I mean, if you're 16 years old, of course you're going to post a * review about how amazing of ... MORE

My buddy who works at Letterman warned me about the Hold Steady's sketch on the late show a few days back. Yesterday when all the blogs made the rounds reporting on the Andy Kindler funny spot I scoured YouTube but to no avail. Only the actual performance was up. Sometime last evening the YouTube gods delivered. Here is the Hold Steady at their finest (I'm liking the new single "Sequestered in Memphis".) And I don't even know what "sequestered" means.... MORE

I posted this one on Blogcritics, so I can post it here It’s understandable why The Hold Steady wanted to release Stay Positive digitally well over a month before its official release date. The album is so overstuffed with summer jams, ballads of rejection, and meditations on Americana, that it has already succeeded in becoming the definitive summer album of 2008 well before it was even released this week. Stay Positive is also one of those albums with enough diversity in... MORE

Hey this is cool. Right now they're selling the download of the new Hold Steady album, Stay Positive, for $1.99 at Amazon. It's a great album. The only downside is that there is a special edition CD out that includes three bonus tracks that you can only get by buying that version of the CD. Still, if you're not obsessed with the group, this download deal is a good one. Just search in the MP3 section of Amazon for The Hold Steady and you'll find the deal.

The new album, Stay Positive, is out July 15 but you can download from iTunes right now. The album is pretty great from start to finish, I'm listening to it over and over again, it's one of those. Here's the first single, which is a cool one.

Happy Birthday America!! You look good for a 232yr old. I know the last 8 years have been brutal on you, and have aged you at an unnatural rate, but I tink(I hope, I pray) you'll be ok..stay postive.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2008/07/16/review_stay_positivebuilds_on_earlier_success

    "Right now, no band displays the ranting soul, haunted heart or diseased liver of the American rock myth with more truth and empathy than the Hold Steady."
   

I know, I know, the title of this post is not exactly a ringing endorsement.  I mean, what's the point of listening to indie music if you can't act cooler than everyone else, right?
Musical elitism aside, The Hold Steady's last 2 albums, Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive, are great introductions into the "indie world" for your more "mainstream friends."  
Once you get past the inevitable Springsteen comparisons (which I suppose I get more frequently th... MORE