The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

The Hold Steady came to (slightly) wider prominence in 2006 with the release of the rip-roaring Boys and Girls in America, an album heavily influenced by the themes and the beat of Jack Kerouac’s seminal coming-of-age novel, On the Road. In many ways, it was also a coming-of-age record for the Brooklyn five-piece, a hazy, rowdy trip across the States seeing them truly finding their feet after the promise of their previous two releases. However, for many, Kerouac and his Beat Generation cohorts never truly fulfilled the potential of their early work, and after dispensing with the literary references, we hope the Hold Steady don’t follow suit (avoiding the drug abuse would also be handy).

The album begins as loudly as the previous, Constructive Summer tearing from the proverbial 0-60 in about a second, another instant Hold Steady classic, as gnarled and edgy as you’d expect: you can just imagine it soundtracking a bar fight on HBO. Sequestered in Memphis begins as a more melodic affair, and ends as a singalong, the song seeing the band back on the road (and subpoenaed in Texas) and shagging ‘n’ that, although this turns out a mistake, as “in bar light, she looked alright, in daylight, she looked desperate.”

False alibis are the subject of One for the Cutters, which asks “If one townie falls in the forest, does anyone notice?” I’m unsure of the American definition of ‘townie’, but if its anything like mine, then my guess is ‘no.’

Navy Sheets begins promisingly, but its noisy guitars and background synthesising don’t do enough to mask a generally lacklustre track, the lowpoint of the album. The tender Lord, I’m Discouraged is a slight departure from their usual output, even if the message to God is once more about a lost love. “Excuses and half-truths and fortified wine” says more about the foibles of the Church than the song’s subject, however. Its on this track that frontman Craig Finn’s vocal lessons appear at their most fruitful, his famously gruff voice displaying a softer edge, which is underlined on Both Crosses, a song reminiscent of Nick Cave both in style and in its dark content.

Yeah, Sapphire is a pleasant enough FM rock song, and the title track is the record’s poppiest moment, a jaunty paean of respect to the Youth of Today, telling us to stay positive about the future. Magazines begins in similarly happy style, but this makes way for a lament about a friend’s relationship failing under the weight of alcohol, ‘magazines, and daddy issues.’ The piano-led Joke About Jamaica unsurprisingly begins in a bar: if they’re not careful, the Hold Steady may get a bit of a reputation…

Slapped Actress rounds things off on a high, a typically raucous effort about attempting to keep a relationship secret, ending with an epic choral flourish.

Stay Positive doesn’t quite match the highs of Boys and Girls in America, but whilst they may have left behind Kerouac, the Hold Steady remain one of the most adept bands at chronicling the true American Dream, a murkier affair than many would have you believe.

Stay Positive can be streamed at: www.myspace.com/theholdsteady

Physical release July 14.