The Hold Steady Band • Page 4

Yea I still like Stay Positive more than the new Finn record. I feel like SP is this lost record no one talks about which is weird. It's never lumped with their first 3 but also never discussed with their last 2. I think it's much closer to a forgotten classic than anything.

It's also the only record I've ever seen get an 8.4 from Pitchfork and not get BNM.

 

It isn't discussed often, but it's definitely the one I listen to the most.

 

I've always felt like it's not QUITE up to the levels of Separation or Boys and Girls, but it's still a fantastic record.

Their forgotten one for me is Heaven. Probably would be up there with their best had Franz been part of it

 

as someone thats really really into the narrative of THS music, i love Stay Positive and Almost Killed Me. Heaven is a fine rock n roll record but some of the songs are just kinda there and its only got some vague story elements to it, like the callback to Chips Ahoy in The Weekenders or St Theresa being mentioned in Sweet Part Of The City, a reference to Holly and Sapphire, but it doesnt really do much for me.

Teeth Dreams is quite underrated imo

 

Two new tracks:

Recorded this month, only on Bandcamp for this week where proceeds go to the K+L Guardian Foundation, on streaming services next week.

 

p good tunes

 

Here’s the church, here’s the steeple. I like the party favors, but I hate the party people.

yeah these two songs are rad

 

its nice to have Franz back. His organ and horn parts are killer.

 

Both songs are great. Man I hope they make a new LP with Franz.

 

Yesssss so great!!

 

good rock and roll uh music

 

do kids these days dab to the rock n roll music

 

The Hold Steady – “Eureka” & “Esther”

 

Love these two songs, “Esther” especially.

 

Always happy for more THS, these songs are great.

 

oh wow 2 more songs in addition to the last 2 we got. THS truly blessing us out here

 

These 2 and the last 2 are pretty THS by the numbers. And I am so grateful for that. THS doesn’t need to do anything other than what they are great at. Love all of these.

 

I was driving around town yesterday and it was sunny out/felt like spring, so I put on Teeth Dreams. Still a few songs I absolutely love on there.

 

“The Only Thing” is friggin perfect

 

also it says "The Hold Steady are: Bobby Drake, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Franz Nicolay, Galen Polivka, Steve Selvidge" so Franz may be a member again or maybe just on this tour and these one off singles who knows

 

Teeth Dreams is a stellar record tbh

 

That one and "Spinners" are both top 10 Hold Steady tracks for me.

 

Oaks is a standout closer.

 

so heres the references and easter eggs ive found so far

-"she could shake but she couldnt really sing" sounds reminiscent of Mary who couldnt dance without hitting the table and making the record skip in Barfruit Blues, also Esther and Mary are both named after biblical characters

-"she said her name was Esther I said baby that sounds biblical" echoes a lot of Separation Sunday, kinda sounds like Holly/Hallelujah

-"she almost died in Denver" continues the recurring theme of almost dying/almost killed me, this time from an observers POV

-"The parties fall to pieces, the endings are so heavy" recalls Most People Are DJs and Killer Parties, honestly though a lot of THS songs have this idea of parties falling apart and the ending being kind of a drag. This line also makes me think of One For The Cutters

-another stray observation thats probably irrelevant but with Craig Finn no detail seems accidental, a detective is mentioned which just made me think of Hot Soft Light and Sequestered In Memphis.

-the word "angels" is used in Eureka and i dont think its a coincidence, angels are mentioned a few other times namely Navy Sheets

-"so she gets in their car and they go" references Hurricane J and Spinners which both have a very similar line about a woman getting into someones car, all for different reasons of course

-"Try not to judge me by the pictures that I take, I've always had some pretty shaky hands" sounds A LOT like something Holly would say, since we know Holly was very shaky (Banging Camp, First Night, etc) and she had taken lewd photographs before (Cattle & The Creeping Things) although im pretty sure this girl isnt Holly, I dont recall Holly having siblings although she has been to California which is where these songs seem to take place. i think its safe to assume Esther is the protagonist of this song as well,

-"He never came out and said it, he just kind of implied it" is pretty similar to what happened with Charlemagne in regards to his drug issues. its also maybe a cute little double reference back to Killer Parties and Dont Let Me Explode which both have a line where someone asks about Charlemagne and something vague is said and implied that hes in a lot of trouble. "a gun on the bed" also kind of draws a connection to Charlemagne who had to carry a gun in his sweatpants to protect himself from the drugdealers that wanted his head on a stake

-both songs reference parking lots which are the backdrop of quite a few THS songs. I'm not sure if these songs are tied in with Entitlement Crew/Snakes In The Shower as far as the same characters go but those songs also contain references to other THS songs so its safe to say we're still in the same universe.

i know some of these may seem like stretches but if youve followed the THS storyline you know that Craig Finn is very meticulous with his world building and very specific when it comes to references and general ideas. He doesnt do coincidences, hell even hes said that he cant help himself when it comes to making references throughout his songs.

 

its such a shame that Ask Her For Adderall wasnt on Stay Positive. that couldve just been added on and made into a 12 track album.

ive been listening to this band a lot lately, the last 2 are better than theyre given credit for despite being their weakest albums. TD feels like they figured out how to work without Franz a lot better than Heaven, the diminished keys leave a lot of empty space in the corners of the tracklist. at least the 3 guitar attack makes up for that on TD, granted if Craig records guitar like he plays live then he really only contributes guitars during choruses but still it works.

i love this band and i want another album but id be ok with them just releasing little batches of songs. i wonder if other songs came from those sessions aside from the 4 new ones