Heaven Is Whenever

3.5 stars

Craig Finn's belief in the redemptive power of Rock n Roll is so infectious that you want the Hold Steady to succeed at everything they do and continue to proudly proclaim them as the best "bar band" in the world. Albums like "Boys and Girls in America" was unafraid of cliché, full of huge high adrenaline anthems and on times reached a fever pitch of Springsteen proportions on songs like the wonderful "First Night" the delirious turbo charged "Stuck between Stations" and the continuing tales of Holly, Gideon and Charlemagne explored on earlier brilliant outings like "Separation Sunday". These were no mere E Street copyists and in Finn they had a great lyricist and the Randy Newman for the teenage experience. Next up was the "Stay Positive" which had its moments but didn't really advance the cause that far and now we have "Heaven is whenever" which is a good album but certainly not a great album.

Clearly the departure of their charismatic keyboard wizard Franz Nicolay has caused a rethink and some of the songs which emerge on this album are real gems. The themes in the songs are slightly more personal but ultimately doomed relationships and ill-advised romances loom large. The opener "Sweet part of the city" does suggest a new direction within the confines of "street scene" ballads and is a true highlight. The ode to the music fan "We can get together" is full of references to bands including Husker Du and Todd Rundgren music and will have crowds singing along at the top of their voices. "Hurricane J" is the Hold Steady "do power pop" and it works in spades, it carries you with is sheer exuberance and is full of Cheap Trick style licks, ditto "Soft in the Center" with its excellent harmonies and echoes of Springsteen.

The long closer "Slight discomfort" is a good reflective piece although its not particularly profound and does miss Nicolay. Then we have songs like "the Smidge" with a riff rolled out so many times before it ought to be given a decent burial. The problem with "Rock Problems" is that we have heard it all before a million times and if this is your first Hold Steady album it will sound great but if not somewhat formulaic and weathered. Take a song like "Weekenders" and if you listen closely it is essentially a rerun of "Chips Ahoy".

The Hold Steady don't have a bad album in them but in terms of their career path they also must decide whether they want to be Oasis or Bruce Springsteen. The Oasis template played out over two brilliant albums but imploded on "Be here now" whereas in terms of the Boss for every "Born to Run" he also recorded a counterpoint like the brilliant "Nebraska" or "Tunnel of Love". There are some suggestions of a new direction on here which should fill us with hope, for the bottom line is that the Hold Steady have now nearly exhausted the riffs and the boy/girls song template. They are by any standards one of the best US bands of recent years and let us hope that the redemptive power of rock n roll provides Finn with further new inspiration.

I listened to this record twice through, streaming it from the Guardian website last night (It's easy to find the preview there if you want:guardian.co.uk/music). From what I've heard, I'll be pre-ordering it directly.

My first encounter with The Hold Steady was their third album, Boys and Girls in America, and I've seen them pretty recently so while I'm not exactly a die-hard, from the beginning fan, they have made a real impression on me in the last few years.

This is a pretty shallow reflection on the album, as I've not had the chance to listen to it repeatedly, but I will say they seem to have found a way to accomodate the desire to move away from the more bombastic BAGIA sound while keeping the songwriting and energy levels exceptionally high. Since the way they used traditional US rock styles along with sometimes self-consciously naive, sometimes almost arch lyricism is what attracted me to the band in the first place, this album definitely counts as a success to me.

Since Franz Nicolay is no longer playing with the band, we're having to say goodbye to a lot of the twinkling pianos and organ chops, along with some of the more obviously punk influenced "Woah-oh-woah-oh" singalongs. Sadly missed, but the understated keys and pedals steel playing make up for it.

All in all, an excllent record from the two listens I've given it, and I'm looking forward to getting physical copy and getting to know it as well as BAGIA

Another slice of Americana, Hold Steady style. After their last effort which, to be brutally frank, was a retrograde step, they push all the right buttons. Craig Finn rasp: check. Chiming guitars: check. Inspirational choruses: ditto. Catch it now - free, in its entirety, on guardian website.
(30/03/2011) God knows how long ago I wrote this review but it still holds up. Still got the link to the guardian webpage for a free listen. Interesting to find out if anyone else followed suit.