Live: Superchunk and The Hold Steady at CBGB Fest Times Square 10.7.12

Day three of the exceedingly poor planned CBGB Fest started with prospective triple digit temperatures in the announced Times Square area and still no sense of the schedule, one that inexplicably seemed to be headlined by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Superchunk had been moved from a show at the Seaport to Times Square, formally negating any equity in my CBGB pass, and no end of investigation could ferret out what their set time would be. Only a cryptic Wurster tweet revealed the 1pm set time. Eric and I posted up with a handful of other to see the mighty Chunk tear through forty minutes or so of heat-stroke rock, highlighted by Jon's pronounced amusement at Mac almost busting his ass jumping off the drum riser. Ten songs all told, including a romp through the new This Summer. I didn't get heat stroke, so a win was called.

Post-set, we chatted and grabbed drinks to eat up the couple hours between the Chunk and The Hold Steady and returned to sweltering heat and maybe 60 people. Short set, but one that featured the pretty ok new Wait A While. The gents are evidently wrapping a new record with Agnello in Jersey, so I expect we'll be seeing a new tour in the Spring.

R

Live: Craig Finn and Some Guns @ Mercury Lounge 2.29.12

Craig Finn, Mercury Lounge and an 8:30 start time are a perfect storm of awesome for this old timer. The improbable addition of Shia Labouf and rain complicated things somewhat, but I still managed to post up stage left with Eric right before things got underway. I'm not all that crazy about Clear Heart, Full Eyes, but continue to relish any chance I get to see shows at Mercury Lounge, so cash was ponied up. From the initial Apollo Bay, it was pretty obvious that I could check my ambivalence at the door and the songs were going to translate better live. The backing band for the tour, dubbed Some Guns, featured four Austin heavyweights (including Alex from Grand Champeen) and kicked serious behind for the duration. Finn is engaging as hell and his stage presence and banter really help things, as did the month of shows they had played previous to this double set of shows, no doubt.

Most of Clear Heart, Full Eyes was addressed in the hour plus we were afforded, as were four pretty damn aces tracks not on the record. I rollled in cranky and pleased things were wrapping up early and left wishing I had bought tickets for the late show. Nyctaper has this very set available for your downloading pleasure, so know that it comes highly recommended and download it yourself here.

R

Craig Finn - Clear Heart, Full Eyes

Word came down the pike last Summer that Craig was in Austin recording a solo record and a subsequent Tumblr documenting the process confirmed the same. I'm mildly surprised that it came out on Vagrant, but that notwithstanding, said solo record has dropped and its called Clear Heart, Full Eyes. Finn has never made his faith a secret and it's definitely ramped up a notch here. See: tracks like New Friend Jesus and Western Pier. The music is rooted more in American Music Club Americana than THS records, with a Telecaster and a volume pedal rather than a Les Paul and a wah kind of mood. Lyrics are cut from the same cloth as Finn fare previously, with arguably more Sunday morning rather than Saturday night content. After a month or so with the record, I'd say Clear Heart, Full Eyes sounds exactly like what you'd expect a Craig Finn solo record to sound like. It certainly will not win anyone over who isn't a fan previously, but should be well received by the average Hold Steady fan. A solo tour rolls through town in the next couple weeks. Buy Clear Heart, Full Eyes and keep track of all things solo and Craig Finn here.

R

Live: The Hold Steady @ Brooklyn Bazaar 12.17.11

So The Hold Steady decided to wrap up the year with a couple of shows, pre-Craig solo record duties. After a cold jump across the bridge and Drew saving my stupid ass with a lock loan, I posted up at the Bazaar warehouse space down on Kent.

Man alive is that a big fucking space. So big that I literally had to ask directions to find the ginormous space the rock was being held in. Found Eric and that I had missed the seemingly-decent-personally-but-snooze-o-rific-every-time-I've-seen-them-live Titus Andronicus. Looking at the calendar, I'm bummed that this show wasn't with Fucked Up, but either way they got points for starting on time.

Wasn't the best Hold Steady show I've seen, but this one was remarkable for being a bad Craig show. Not bad bad, but there were some dropped lyrics and the whole vibe was a little off. Sound was good for a cavernous pre-fab space, as was the set. I will continue to carp about the lack of keys in general and Franz in particular, but The Hold Steady are quite a rock force to be reckoned with even on an off night. I'm intrigued to hear what the Craig solo set is like. I hear maybe we'll get some new THS fourth quarter. Stay tuned for details. Set list is below.

R

1. Hurricane J 
2. Sequestered in Memphis 
3. Banging Camp 
4. Chips Ahoy! 
5. Rock Problems 
6. Magazines 
7. You Gotta Dance 
8. The Swish 
9. You Can Make Him Like You 
10. Your Little Hoodrat Friend 
11. Girls Like Status 
12. Stevie Nix 
13. Constructive Summer 
14. Hot Soft Light 
15. Lord, I'm Discouraged 
16. The Weekenders 
17. Southtown Girls 
18. Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night 
19. Stuck Between Stations 
20. How a Resurrection Really Feels 
21. Encore:
21. Christmas Must Be Tonight 
    (Robbie Robertson cover)
22. Massive Nights 
23. Stay Positive 
    (with Titus Andronicus)

Jaded Scenester NYC: Best EPs of 2011

As I understand, it's in the way that you use it, or so the Michelobs are telling me. Here's the JS-NYC take on all things short format in 2011.

1.  Iron Chic – Split & Shit EP
Their crowd is getting a little wearisome to this old bastard, but when it comes to hooky LIHC with a decided post-Lifetime bent, you can't go wrong with Iron Chic or Split & Shit.

2.  Drive-By Truckers – Sometimes Late At Night EP. It's chaos as usual for Team DBT, with bassist/singer Shonna Tucker the latest to depart in the time-honored ambiguous circumstances. This EP came out before the split, featuring a handful of live tracks and a studio version of the Vic Chestnutt tune, When I Ran Off And Left Her. Be interesting to see what's next for these Sons Of The South.

3.  The Hold Steady – Live from Soho EP
I still miss Franz, but this is a pretty solid eight song showing from Team THS. I'm intrigued to see how Craig's solo record impacts things as/re: the new (non-Vagrant?) record. I'm calling ATO as the winner, unless they score themselves a too-good-to-be-true major deal with Anti.

4.  Restorations – The Key Studios EP
Restorations have been a big deal for me over the last year ago and I was glad they sweetened the top with this live recording. Five great takes, with a little studio banter to remind you its not all glowering and dynamic shifts with these nice young men.

5.  Chixdiggit – Safeways Here We Come EP
Chixdiggit pretty much redeemed their last half-hearted junket through town with a fun EP and a great set with Kepi Ghoulie on an East River Rocks Off death barge. On Fat Wreck again, as well. While Hot n' Horny is embarassing for guys as old as these dudes, Since You Got A Dog continues to be an anthem for our times.

6.  Armalite – Humongous 7”
The eight year locusts of hardcore re-emerge from dormancy to drop three jolts of post-D4 Philly punkcore. Boo-ya. And Go! for that matter.

7.  Jon Snodgrass – Tri-State Record
I wish Jon would pull a Wedding Present and release a song a month and then offer a catch-up comp release at the end of the year, as he's almost prolific to a fault. Tri-State Record is the best cumilitive record this year, although the Scorpios record is quite a little delight as well.

8.  Superchunk/Coliseum - Record Store Day 7”

C'mon: The Chunk and Coliseum togther doing Misfits covers. That's worth a spin.

9.  Bobby Bare Jr. – a storm, a tree, an acoustic ep EP
The companion EP to A Storm, A Tree, My Mother's Head gave nerds and completists a shot at the demos that fostered the full-length.

10.  Trash Talk – Awake EP
Blaaaah! Blaah-Blaah-Blaah-Blaah! Circle Pit. Mosh-mosh-mosh. Chug.

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

Molly and I saw a lot of Art Brut when we followed The Hold Steady around on their NME sponsored tour a couple three years ago. There's a pretty strong argument to be made for the two being two sides of the same coin. Both bands are archetypes of the rock of their respective homelands helmed by great singers who don't exactly sing so much as vocalize. Art Brut got a lot of notice with their last great record recorded by Black Francis. Singer Eddie Argos was in fine form there, but their second time with Francis behind the boards has yielded their best record yet.

Brilliant! Tragic! is very much the former, although the second element figures prominently in the songs here. Evidently Art Brut got more time in the studio this time around and wrote together much more regularly than they normally do. It's reaped dividends and they should do a lot more of it. This won't be out til mid-May, but it is well worth snapping up once it does. They've dropped the first track to the interwebs in the form of Lost Weekend, so check around a get a taste of what you're in for once Brilliant! Tragic! drops. There's another non-album track called Unprofessional Wrestling available if you pony up some e-mail or Facebook info. I do that and snatch up the record here from your friends at Downtown Records.

R

Franz Nicolay - Luck and Courage

Franz came on my radar for the first time through his tenure as keysman for The Hold Steady, although there is a pretty decent chance that I saw him play with World Inferno Friendship Society prior to that. Either way, he was a big part of my love for THS and his absence from the fold has left a pronounced void of ambivalence in its wake for me.

Nicolay is a dyed in the wool American Music Club fan, an endorsement that will do little to diminish most people in my eyes. That vibe permeated his first solo record Major General and is well-imbued in the new Luck and Courage. While Major General was a rawer proposition, Luck and Courage sports a more expansive sound, with swirling strings and a host of female accompanists that prove wonderful foils to the stories Nicolay tenor illuminates. Not the record for your average (especially new school) Hold Steady fan looking to cross over, but a fine record for the average Franz or AMC fan.

R

Live: The Hold Steady @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg 1.30.11

Another $25 show, and another one that was marked with a fair degree of ambivalence. This one was on a Sunday, and not one bound by a curfew, plus some shitty hipster band was opening. Regardless, Eric got tickets and we ended up hooking up with Dave and Jina for the show. We posted up on the side of the stage while the gents romped through a pretty decent set.

No keyboard this time around. Big homie from Lucero is still in the band, playing decent enough guitar and stepping up with some harmonized leads every once in a while. Still not crazy about that eventuality, but The Hold Steady still can bring it. I didn't get tickets for the second night, nor did I get tickets for the March show at Terminal 5, which seems to mark the end of an era. Kind of a bummer, but life goes on. Stay tuned as to what big act the Hold Steady will be opening for this Summer here and check out the new Live From Soho EP.

R

Live: Song Of Zarathustra @ Cake Shop 10.6.10

Historically, I have always been more into the Twin Cities bands on the periphery of Song Of Zarathustra, like The Cardinal Sin and The Hold Steady, but SOZ get props for combining Brainiac and Lifter Puller in an unsettling but strangely pleasant bit of dischord. I had seen them at ABC prior to their breakup (horribly enough, way back in 2003) and the discography had enjoyed a fair amount of nostalgia spinning over the last couple months, so for $10 it seemed worth the walk.

It had been a long day, with a guaranteed bear of a week in front of me, but I figured that a Song Of Zarathustra reunion set at Cake Shop might be a fine way to take the edge off the previous long week before the next jumped off. After an early drive-by stamping, I posted up stage right just in time to stake out real estate for the SOZ set. I haven't really seen too much in the way of solid explanation for the reunion beyond their ability to do so, but for those of you scoring at home these shows featured the circa 2000-era Birth Of Tragedy lineup of Munsen, TJ McInnis, Mark Jorgensen, and Bos. The set sported a nice mix of blast and blargh, with Bos flailing about in comfortably familiar fashion. Couldn't have been much more than a half-hour worth of set to a quarter-filled room, but the small choir Song Of Zarathustra were preaching to seemed to like what they heard. I numbered among them, and liked the fact that they didn't overstay their welcome even more. No word on more shows, but if there are more, I'd expect they will be located Midwestern way but here's a place to keep an eye on to see if they do transpire.

blaaRgh!

Live: The Hold Steady @ The Apple Store Soho 10.8.10

A quiet Friday at the office was winding down when I got a Twitter forwarded from my dear friend David informing me that The Hold Steady were playing at The Apple Store in Soho at 6, a time that normally would have precluded my attending, but a family emergency ended up defusing itself after I had taken my leave so down I went.

Things were decidedly dead when I crossed threshold, but I scored a wristband and went home to swap bikes in time to get one of the last of the 50 or so seats. Eric rolled up in short order and we settled in to what was announced as a taping for an iTunes only acoustic release. As compared to the previous night's show, it was a lot more engaging to be close to the boys. It went maybe 40 minutes, with Craig in good spirits.

Sweet Part of the City
Barely Breathing
We Can Get Together
The Weekenders
Separate Vacations
Chips Ahoy
Both Crosses
Cheyenne Sunrise

As you might surmise, the short set was heavy on material from Heaven Is Whenever, with the unreleased Separate Vacations making a welcome appearance. No word on when the recordings will be released, but it'll probably be cheap and it's definitely worth picking up.

R

Live: The Hold Steady @ Beacon Theatre 10.7.10

This show was a weird proposition all-around. First and foremost, I ended up buying this ticket (through the good graces of AMEX holder and all-around great guy Dave Johnson) back in April. I think it marks the first time in the seeming eternity I've spent on this earth that I've bought a ticket that far in advance. I will say straight off that seeing The Hold Steady in a sit-down environment is not the first arena I would choose, unless it was some sort of acoustic or special situation. The Hold Steady are one of the few bands that I still want to see from as close as possible with one too many beers in me and the $37.50 ticket price and the Beacon did not bode well for that. Either way, I pulled the trigger and went despite the lack of the usual crowd attending.

I rolled up to the Beacon, locked up and headed in to find that there were tickets still available. Interesting. There had been little fanfare amongst the Unified Scene set about this show, and most of the front-end scuttlebutt had been about the odd choice of venue, high ticket price and lack of other shows in town behind Heaven Is Whenever. Call it lifestyle-related paranoia, but there is something going on with The Hold Steady. When you play two guerilla shows in town on the same day to push your new record, I can see the marketing draw, but when your only other announced hometown show in a venue like the Beacon, it makes me think that there is some image (or crowd) spin-doctoring going on. I have to think The Hold Steady are at the end of their Vagrant contract and dollars to donuts they will be moving on, I wonder if this is an attempt to ingratiate themselves to an older crowd that still buys cds. THS are shrewd business people, and lets not misinterpret this as JS-NYC saying THS are Kiss or anything, but there has to be a way to keep the lights on and not short their long-time local fanbase. The fact that the show wasn't sold out (the first time I've been aware in many NY shows) may speak to the fact that Franz moving on and odd show moves may be working against our heroes.

So I got to my seat to find that it was literally the last seat in the last row of the orchestra. It ended up being great sightline-wise, and the wall behind the seat meant there wasn't going to be any issue with my standing during the set. The gents were on by a little after ten, as I recall and played a great set, but I won't say it wasn't weird not being able to be up front packed in. Craig implored the crowd to ignore the seats, but security felt otherwise and it was an oddly restrained affair. Here's the set list:

1. Constructive Summer
2. Massive Nights
3. Hurricane J
4. Sequestered in Memphis
5. The Swish
6. Rock Problems
7. You Can Make Him Like You
8. The Sweet Part of the City
9. Magazines
10. Stevie Nix
11. Multitude of Casualties
12. You Gotta Dance (With Who You Came To The Dance With)
13. Chips Ahoy!
14. Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
15. We Can Get Together
16. The Weekenders
17. Southtown Girls
18. Your Little Hoodrat Friend
19. Stay Positive
20. Slapped Actress
21. Encore:
21. Hornets! Hornets!
22. Stuck Between Stations
23. Killer Parties

All in all, this was a pretty good set, but this was the first Hold Steady show in the many shows I've seen them play where I left before it was over. Not that THS were bad, far from it, but the distance was a real issue and the stage is really empty with Franz not taking up stage right. Selvidge is a decent guitarist, but it is very obvious that in the Heaven Is Whenever era, he and keyboardist Dan Neustadt are definitely sidemen. The fact that the keys are now as far in the background as possible stage-wise (and in the new material) is very telling. Selvidge and Tad do a couple of harmonized solos that are ok, but nothing to write home about and do little to fill that big empty space on the right. After an hour I was checking Springsteen's Twitter on the phone and texting master of the odds Eric for the over/under on an unannounced arrival from The Boss legitimizing the choice of venue and my staying out late on a school night. Nothing seemed promising in that regard, and as such I bailed before the encore sated. Heaven Is Whenever is a solid record and The Hold Steady are definitely in the top tier of America's rock bands, but as 2010 draws to a close, I'm interested to see when the next show in-town is and even more intrigued to find how quickly I'm going to move to get tickets.

R

The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever

It's an interesting time to be a fan of The Hold Steady. Heaven Is Whenever is the first in some time not to feature the keyboard stylings of Mr. Franz Nicolay and was rumored to be a simpler, more guitar-driven affair. In the days before the record came out, I had more than a couple interactions with the HS massive where the general consensus was that our heroes had jumped the shark. I felt kinda the same way after hearing the first singles off the record, but still bought tickets for both of their home town shows last month and had a ball.

Heaven Is Whenever leaked soon after, and I wasn't really into it all. It was kind of a bummer, frankly, but after a week of bike rides, the songs started hooking me in. The bridge of Hurricane J was the first thing that grabbed me, followed soon after by the icy riff that drives The Weekenders. After a couple weeks, I'm pleased to say that I'm now pretty into Heaven Is Whenever. The boys have been making the late night rounds, switching up the song each time, and all of them seem to translate pretty well. The new guys seem pretty decent, but seem to be chosen for their lack of overall personality to the point of being extraneous.

The core four are in fine form here. Tad definitely seems poised to take the Rick Nielsen torch, both in rock riffage and sheer volume (literally and figuratively) of Gibsons owned. Craig still brings much to the table lyrically. That's a pretty big understatement, but rather than dance too much about architecture, know that Husker Du are referenced, as are Heavenly and the sheer pleasure of staying indoors with significant others and listening to records. These are truisms that warrant your embracing their philosophy and buying Heaven Is Whenever. I can state whole-heartedly that I miss song-driven makeout sessions. Know that JS-NYC will go the distance to bring this back as courtship material. Do your part and buy Heaven Is Whenever here from you friends at Vagrant.

R

Live: The Hold Steady @ Bowery Ballroom 4.17.10

While I was not exactly relishing the passing of another year, the prospect of two Hold Steady shows on my birthday lessened the sting a bit. It was going to do nothing for my hangover the next day, but the prospect of doubling up while accompanied by the Brothers Johnson was more than appealing. In the two days between snagging tickets and the show taking place, word came down the pike that we'd be getting Stephen and Annie at the Colonial Williamsburg show to boot. It was obvious that it was, as the kids say, on.

I met Eric at Motor City early for some warm-up rounds and Dave and our Upstate Dignitaries arrived in short order. Much libation driven conviviality was shared. Eric and I crossed threshold at Bowery a couple minutes before things jumped off. Ran into Flynn almost immediately (who gave me the heads-up on the ticket sale in the first place) and chatted for a second and then staked out our normal real estate at stage left. I hadn't heard too much of the new record, and was frankly a bit on the fence after hearing the first couple tracks that they leaked. Luckily, there's something fairly alchemical about the combination of beer and The Hold Steady. Positive Jam opened the proceedings, and from then on, it was pretty smooth sailing for the duration. Franz is definitely missed on-stage. The eminently wise Mr. Gersztoff opined earlier in the evening that on principle, eventualities like Bill Wyman leaving The Stones and Franz leaving The Hold Steady should not be taking place. I couldn't agree more. That's not an out and out diss to new third guitarist Steve Selvidge (ex-Lucero, Big Ass Truck) and/or keysman Dan Neustadt from World Inferno, but you want to see the championship team, especially when they are coming out from a period of hiberation. Keys are now in the back and while Craig is still animated as all get out, you really miss Franz shaking his ass to every song. That said, our boys still aren't fucking around. The new guys come off a little extraneous, especially on the older material, but play damn well. Know that rock is still brought in a pronounced fashion. Here's the set list.

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:19:31]
01 [introduction]
02 Positive Jam
03 Same Kooks
04 Hurricane J
05 Cattle and the Creeping Things
06 Magazines
07 You Can Make Him Like You
08 Rock Problems
09 Sequestered in Memphis
10 Navy Sheets
11 Soft in the Center
12 Barfruit Blues
13 The Weekenders
14 Chips Ahoy!
15 Stuck Between Stations
16 A Slight Discomfort
17 Stay Positive
18 Southtown Girls
19 How a Resurrection Really Feels
20 [encore break]
21 Massive Night
22 Slapped Actress

Not bad at all. Even more so with the prospect of doing it all over again in short order. If it looks good to you, you can get a copy of the show from hero of our times nyctaper here.

R

and there was much rejoicing

New Album “Heaven is Whenever” Available May 3 in the UK and EU / May 4 in the US

By The Hold Steady, 23 February, 2010, No Comment

The Hold Steady recently put the finishing touches on ‘Heaven Is Whenever,’ their new album set for release May 4th on Vagrant Records and May 3rd on Rough Trade in the UK and EU. The album was produced by Dean Baltulonis, who engineered the band’s ‘Almost Killed Me’ and produced ‘Separation Sunday,’ and was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios in Upstate NY and Wild Arctic Studios in Queens, NY, with mixing also happening at Wild Arctic.

Singer Craig Finn says ’Heaven Is Whenever’ is about “embracing suffering and finding reward in our everyday lives.” Piano and keys take a backseat to guitar on the new record, which also gets production help from guitarist Tad Kubler.

Recorded in several smaller sessions spread out over a long period of time, the songs on ‘Heaven Is Whenever’ received the benefit of being tested on the band’s recent tours. As Finn says this allowed them to “see what was working and what wasn’t. I believe this record benefits from us working at a more deliberate pace.”