"The Hold Steady"- Chord Magazine, 10/06
750-word feature on Brooklyn-based indie-rock group The Hold Steady, in anticipation of their upcoming album. Published in Chord Magazine for October/November 2006.
“Do you have anything special planned for the tour this fall?”
“No, not really. Just to rock.”
With an abrupt answer to one (admittedly lame) question, The Hold Steady front man Craig Finn has essentially written this entire story.
Like Finn’s demeanor, The Hold Steady’s music is defined by its honesty— In the past year, the band has weathered a storm of critical acclaim, a move to Vagrant records, and a recording session with A-list producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.). And yet, in the face of so much change, The band has managed to produce the most straightforward example of rock and roll this year, with Boys and Girls in America.
Kids today need a more focused genre than rock and roll, though, and fans of The Hold Steady have been happy to label the group a bar band, a vaguely endearing term that Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler seem content with, even if they’re unsure of its meaning.
“I don’t know what they mean, other than that we’re just beer-drinking, Mid-western, good-time dudes hammering out rock and roll,” Kubler said. “I’m hoping it’s just their way of saying that what we do is genuine.”
Finn seems to agree that “bar band” is simply a synonym for “rock band,” with no sub-genre attached.
“I don’t want to say that The Hold Steady is a reaction against indie-rock, because that’s certainly part of the crowd we play to,” Finn said. “But the aesthetic we wanted to convey was just having some drinks, and maybe in some way more dangerous. With indie-rock, when you go see a band, they look more like grad-students than a rock band. So that was the idea that we’re trying to get away from.”
According to Finn and Kubler, each is eager to get back on the road this fall— Good news for their fans, who all seem to agree that the group sounds best on stage.
Having said that, Boys and Girls could be the album that finally changes their reputation. The presence of Agnello in the studio marks the first time the group has worked with an established producer, and his influence on the record is apparent.
The songs are still unmistakably Hold Steady, but have a studio polish that serves to highlight their rough edges, rather than smooth them away. Agnello, who had in fact approached the group about producing Separation Sunday, agrees that the band’s live sound is their strength, and strived to capture it in the studio.
“I love the way Separation Sunday sounds, I love the way it was mixed, but one thing that [Agnello] pointed out was that it sounds like a studio album,” Kubler said. “He was like, ‘You guys are such a live band … One thing I want to facilitate is getting performances out of you guys together as a band, rather than doing a lot of overdubs and tracking.’
“He was great at getting us physically and mentally comfortable to where we were allowed to play like we do in our practice space,” Kubler said.
He got the result he was looking for. Like Phrenology did for The Roots, Boys and Girls manages to capture the energy of The Hold Steady’s live show. But unlike Phrenology, it’s also likely to become their most successful album to date. According to Finn, keyboard player Franz Nicolay played a larger role in the songwriting process, adding depth to the songs.
Of course, Agnello also had an impact on Finn’s songwriting.
“There was an air of authority and respect that existed going into it,” Finn said. “It was very easy for me to take advice from him. If he said ‘The chorus is a little too long,’ I felt that he had more authority on that matter than I did. So it wasn’t hard to take that feedback.”
When it comes to feedback, the group hears mostly positive from critics these days. Everyone from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone have had early praise for Boys and Girls. But despite their past accolades and early acclaim for the new record, Kubler is hesitant to take anything for granted.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Kubler. “Maybe all the critics like it, and the people will decide they don’t want to buy it. Having said that, we’re super happy with the way the record turned out. We’re really proud of it. We all believe it’s the best thing we’ve ever done as a band, or even as musicians.”
“Do you have anything special planned for the tour this fall?”
“No, not really. Just to rock.”
With an abrupt answer to one (admittedly lame) question, The Hold Steady front man Craig Finn has essentially written this entire story.
Like Finn’s demeanor, The Hold Steady’s music is defined by its honesty— In the past year, the band has weathered a storm of critical acclaim, a move to Vagrant records, and a recording session with A-list producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.). And yet, in the face of so much change, The band has managed to produce the most straightforward example of rock and roll this year, with Boys and Girls in America.
Kids today need a more focused genre than rock and roll, though, and fans of The Hold Steady have been happy to label the group a bar band, a vaguely endearing term that Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler seem content with, even if they’re unsure of its meaning.
“I don’t know what they mean, other than that we’re just beer-drinking, Mid-western, good-time dudes hammering out rock and roll,” Kubler said. “I’m hoping it’s just their way of saying that what we do is genuine.”
Finn seems to agree that “bar band” is simply a synonym for “rock band,” with no sub-genre attached.
“I don’t want to say that The Hold Steady is a reaction against indie-rock, because that’s certainly part of the crowd we play to,” Finn said. “But the aesthetic we wanted to convey was just having some drinks, and maybe in some way more dangerous. With indie-rock, when you go see a band, they look more like grad-students than a rock band. So that was the idea that we’re trying to get away from.”
According to Finn and Kubler, each is eager to get back on the road this fall— Good news for their fans, who all seem to agree that the group sounds best on stage.
Having said that, Boys and Girls could be the album that finally changes their reputation. The presence of Agnello in the studio marks the first time the group has worked with an established producer, and his influence on the record is apparent.
The songs are still unmistakably Hold Steady, but have a studio polish that serves to highlight their rough edges, rather than smooth them away. Agnello, who had in fact approached the group about producing Separation Sunday, agrees that the band’s live sound is their strength, and strived to capture it in the studio.
“I love the way Separation Sunday sounds, I love the way it was mixed, but one thing that [Agnello] pointed out was that it sounds like a studio album,” Kubler said. “He was like, ‘You guys are such a live band … One thing I want to facilitate is getting performances out of you guys together as a band, rather than doing a lot of overdubs and tracking.’
“He was great at getting us physically and mentally comfortable to where we were allowed to play like we do in our practice space,” Kubler said.
He got the result he was looking for. Like Phrenology did for The Roots, Boys and Girls manages to capture the energy of The Hold Steady’s live show. But unlike Phrenology, it’s also likely to become their most successful album to date. According to Finn, keyboard player Franz Nicolay played a larger role in the songwriting process, adding depth to the songs.
Of course, Agnello also had an impact on Finn’s songwriting.
“There was an air of authority and respect that existed going into it,” Finn said. “It was very easy for me to take advice from him. If he said ‘The chorus is a little too long,’ I felt that he had more authority on that matter than I did. So it wasn’t hard to take that feedback.”
When it comes to feedback, the group hears mostly positive from critics these days. Everyone from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone have had early praise for Boys and Girls. But despite their past accolades and early acclaim for the new record, Kubler is hesitant to take anything for granted.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Kubler. “Maybe all the critics like it, and the people will decide they don’t want to buy it. Having said that, we’re super happy with the way the record turned out. We’re really proud of it. We all believe it’s the best thing we’ve ever done as a band, or even as musicians.”
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