Holdin' Steady

The Hold Steady are one of the best live bands on the planet. There is an incredible energy that fills every one of their shows. As Craig Finn shouts at the end of their live record "There is so much JOY in what we do!" I got to see them for the fourth or fifth time (I forget) on Monday at DC's 930 Club. As always they put on a great show but it did seem a little more subdued than previous. Maybe that was because they are a bit older, or maybe because my wife and I perched from the club's balcony so that we had perfect sound and a perfect view. When I've gone solo I usually get down front, so though  the mob at the front didn't seem particularly ornery, perhaps being away from it proved less exciting. The crowds are part of what make their shows more revival than concert. Everybody knows the words to the classics, and the classics were well represented. It was a wonderful show, and if you like classic Thin Lizzy-sounding rock with a madman holding court at the lead singer mic, then you should love The Hold Steady as much as I do.

Their latest record is Teeth Dreams and it is an improvement from their somewhat disappointing Heaven Is Whenever. That 2010 record sounded a bit lethargic to me. It was their first without keyboardist and backing vocalist Franz Nicolay. He brought a lot to the band. It took a record for them to adapt. Steve Selvidge, who used to be in Lucero, is now an official member and he brings a great compliment to Tab Kubler's guitar playing. They share lead duties and it rely ram homes the Thin Lizzy sound for me. A bunch of their solos start together, diverge to wrap around one another, before coming back. The short solo in "Saddle Shoes" is a nice sample of this.

Lyrically, Craig Finn is one of the best around. Maybe THE best. As always his songs are more stories. Tales of losers and drug addicts and lapsed Catholics and teenagers looking to score.  It's interesting, it's smart, it simply resonates. His voice is not for everybody, he uses this sing-talk style that folks tend to find grating. I found it grating when I first heard them, but the music draws you in and lends itself to the stories Craig is telling, the worlds he is building in his lyrics. The album closes on a new note, a great nine-plus-minute opus called "Oaks" which features some of Craig's best singing.

Here's a cool trailer for the new record. All hail The Hold Steady!!

Singled Out!

One of the many cool things about buying vinyl exclusively is finding little 7" singles. Artists use these to release special things (like when I wrote about Record Store Day) or just a way to release odds and ends or just getting something cool out there. Here's some 7" singles I've gotten in the past few months.

Birth of the Pipesnakes by The FED - Truth be told I know these guys and I had the true honor of playing a gig with The FED last night. Happily they were selling copies of their vinyl and I was more than happy to snatch up a copy. They are a great local DC band that do a kind of swamp-boogie-thing. I describe them as Kings of Leon before Kings of Leon started to suck. Their live show definitely makes you move. My favorite track off of this is the first cut on side A, "'83," just a great piece of dirty rock n roll. The rest of it is plenty great to.

"Criminal Fingers"/"The Bear and the Maiden Fair" by The Hold Steady - This was a 2013 Record Store Day buy (actually I cheated and bought it on eBay). The A side is a mellow track called "Criminal Fingers" but it's the B side that is the real jewel: their imagining of "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" from Game of Thrones. The National did something similar with "The Rains of Castamere," keeping to the morose and sad spirit of that track. The Hold Steady do their thing here, bringing their classic exuberance and energy to a fun song. I am going to try to talk my band into covering this!

"Southern Comfort"/"Stars" by Æges. A great progressive metal band from California, leaning more toward the prog side but with plenty of heaviness. They are made up of guys from Pelican, Undertow and Rise (amongst other bands). They do the de-tuned guitar thing but have a great sense of melody and happily the singer sings and doesn't grunt or snarl. The first side is a cut off their great record The Bridge. The back side is a great unreleased tune called "Stars." It has great dynamics with heavy sections broken with mellower spots connected by a great pop sensibility when it kicks into it's groove.

"Deny The Absolute"/"The Truce" by Pelican - Speaking of Pelican, they are another great progressive leaning metal band. Where Æges has vocals, Pelican keeps it to instrumentals. These are two new tracks off their forthcoming record. Like I keep preaching, I love melody, and these guys have a sure grasp of it. The A-side is a great stomper; you can bang your head but not so much that you break your neck.  The B-side is a great acoustic-based number, a really nice touch from a normally heavy sounding band. They are playing DC9 in November...I already have my tickets! I bought both this and the Æges record from The Mylene Sheath. Check them out for a lot of interesting proggy metal acts.

Iron Road by The Old 97s - Last and certainly not least is one of my most favorite alt-country acts The Old 97s. This is another Record Store Day get (though they appear to have released it in greater quantities now). Their are two 7" here featuring 4 tracks from 1996. The first disc is a treat because it has the original outlaw himself, Waylon Jennings, taking the lead vocal on "Iron Road" and "The Other Shoe." Waylon's classic voice fits the Old 97s like a glove. Just a perfect slice of outlaw country. The other disc has demo versions of "Visiting Hours" and "Fireflies."