The Hold Steady Album: “Heaven Is Whenever”

The Hold Steady is continually confounding. The first album I picked up was

...its combination of Springsteen-esque song structures, punk attitudes, and intelligent lyrics pulled me in early and made me want more. So I moved onto their first album

...which was radically different, except for the intelligent lyrics and attitude. Somehow, though, it all sounded like the same band...the identity at the core of the music was solid and likable. It's easy to say that the identity belongs to Craig Finn, since he's the singer and lyricist, but that would be doing the rest of the band a disservice. Tad Kubler's guitars do just as much to form the core of this band, and the rock solid yet versatile rhythm section provides incredible support.

Which brings us to the new album, Heaven Is Whenever. At first listen it seems almost radio-ready, with the Wilcoisms of "Sweet Part of the City" and the doo-wop rhythms of "We Can Get Together." But it's so much more than that. This is a varied album, ranging from rockers that will please any long time Hold Steady fan, like "Hurricane J" and "Soft in the Center," which is home to my current favorite line from the album ('You can't tell people what they wanna hear if you also want to tell the truth') to new sounds and experiments with lusher production (the aforementioned "Sweet Part of the City" and the album closer "A Slight Discomfort."

Since their last album,

, the Hold Steady has been moving away from the in your face musical aggression that characterized their earlier albums. This is neither a good nor bad thing, for their live shows remain as energetic and amazing as ever, mixing old with new seamlessly. However, it is interesting to hear them evolving, making greater use of the studio, exploring new directions in their playing.

If you don't know the band, Heaven is Whenever would be an excellent starting point. If you're already a fan, get ready to be challenged yet again by the best American band out there right now.

The 4th release from this New York band is brilliant storytelling roots-based rock that flows like a

slice-of-life American novel. The lyrics have an emotional & perceptive, resigned weariness that

accepts things as there are and revels in the existence of the moment. The songs are played by

indie rock veterans who care about what they're doing, and Craig Finn's voice is utterly

compelling. It feels like a grower. Similarities to Drive-By Truckers, Springsteen, Thin Lizzy,

Titus Andronicus, The Clash.

I love this band. I've seen them three times now including on their opening date on the latest tour with the new lineup in support of this album. But I have to say Heaven is Whenever is a disappointment. After four successive great albums in which the band advanced brilliantly with each new release--improving the hookiness, complexity of storytelling, emotional density, and dramatic structure of its songs--the group went into a holding pattern releasing a live album from an older tour followed by this: a record well-worn THS gestures and riffs, buried under sludgy lifeless production, lacking the clarity, the punch, the hooks, the freshness and the drama that made their previous records joyous listening. Sounds like a band struggling with success and fighting to grow to some next stage. Let's hope they get there, but this sounds like a step closer to stalling out and breaking up than it sounds like a step into the future.

If this was the first album I had heard by the Hold Steady, I might have been more impressed, and given it a higher rating. I still sort of feel bad downgrading this album to 3 stars, but honestly, it just didn't move me, or impress me, as much as the previous two albums. I can't quite put my finger on what it's lacking. On the surface, the songs sound fine and the performances have passion, but still ... something's missing that prevents me from going "wow." If you haven't heard the Hold Steady yet, I wouldn't suggest getting this one first. "Boys and Girls in America" is a one to start with.

Coming from a band so rooted in notions of community and classic rock, "The Sweet Part of the City" seems to acknowledge that the Hold Steady realize their function as a liaison between the underground and the mainstream. They're trying hard to achieve widespread appeal while remaining embedded in the scenes they've been chronicling for half a decade. Heaven Is Whenever loiters in the same dives, clubs, and party houses as their previous albums and chronicles the sagas of similar hoodrats, townies, gamblers, waitresses, and girlfriends. Meanwhile, the band has graduated to larger venues, festival appearances, and an avid fanbase that shouts along with every word. The distance between subject and band has never been greater than it is on this album, and these new songs just don't hit as hard.