If musicianship has gotten more diverse and innovative since the rise of the Internet, it could be argued that the craft of songwriting remained somewhat stagnant. It could be because that while the Internet can connect you with people all over the world, it also insulates you and shuts you off from your surroundings. If you subscribe to this view and you\u2019re a songwriter, you\u2019re more apt to write exclusively about what\u2019s going on in your own head rather than about what\u2019s going on around you. That may yield enough material for an album, but eventually, there\u2019s only a certain number of ways to say \u201cI\u2019m in pain.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fortunately, this is not a problem for Craig Finn. While many singer\/songwriter\u2019s lyrical muse revolves around God or a cheating ex, Finn\u2019s centers more around locations. Specifically, stomach-pumping emergency room trips, keggers, and bars. From these places, Finn tells of stories of lies, lust, and resurrection. Big topics, sure, but his band, The Hold Steady, back it up with E Street Band luster. <\/p>\n
2005\u2019s Separation Sunday<\/i>, their second album, stands as The Hold Steady\u2019s finest work (so far). Tad Kubler\u2019s bluesy guitar riffs and Bobby Drake\u2019s drumming give an extra \u201coomph\u201d to Finn\u2019s lyrics. Finn may not have the most refined voice in rock, but his gravelly voice is a commanding force, especially when it takes you on a journey, like on the dizzying tale of Catholic-style apocalypse and rehab. In one song, Finn tosses out such gems like \u201csilly rabbits, tripping is for teenagers,\u201d \u201cI guess I heard about original sin \/ I heard the dude blamed the chick \/ I heard the chick blamed the snake \/ I heard they were naked when they got busted\u201d and \u201cLater on we did some sexy things \/ took a couple photographs and carved them into wood reliefs\u201d like he was rhyming \u201cfire\u201d with \u201cdesire.\u201d <\/p>\n
If Separation Sunday<\/i> were to be judged solely on lyrics, the album would be an easy A. Even so, the band, given the unenviable task of trying to match Finn\u2019s lyrical genius, has no problems living up to this task. \u201cYour Little Hoodrat Friend\u201d has a chugging guitar riff that sets the mood of the song so aptly, you can smell the Schlitz reeking from the \u201choodrat\u201d subjects. <\/p>\n
In The Hold Steady\u2019s world, the characters are as vivid as a Bukowski or Poe novel. The two central characters on Separation Sunday<\/i>, Charlemagne and Holly, stumble and bash through life. Holly\u2019s story ends the album with \u201cHow a Resurrection Really Feels.\u201d Even if you haven\u2019t stepped in church for decades, the music of the closing track is powerful enough to seriously believe that this would be the ideal soundtrack to a resurrection. <\/p>\n
Bruce Springsteen may still be the king of turning three-minute songs into guitar-powered hymnals about life and death struggles, but The Hold Steady takes these themes and uses them to flesh out the boozed out and lovesick characters in their songs. For those who like their party music to have a little bit of brains without sacrificing an ounce of \u201cmeat and potatoes\u201d rock, The Hold Steady is the best thing since The Replacements. All of their albums are perfect for party soundtracks, but Separation Sunday<\/i> represents the party at its drunken, out-of-control peak. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8202],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40902","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-hold-steady","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40902"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40902"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}