The Hold Steady: Heaven is Whenever

Label: Vagrant

With the departure of keyboardist (and resident moustache) Franz Nicolay, the Hold Steady lost a major pillar of their triumphant barroom rock sound. So, on their first record without him, they compensate the hell out of it with thick, meaty instrumental arrangements, hammering drums, and absolutely massive riffs from guitarist Tadd Kubler. It’s all sounding more classic rock than ever, with Craig Finn’s gradually maturing (but no less sober, thank God. We like our poets good and tipsy in these parts) lyrics vacillating, crisis-style, between fatherly (“You can’t get every girl / You’ll get the ones you love the best”), wearied (“We used to want it all / Now we just want a little bit”) and nostalgic (“Heaven is whenever / We can get together / Sit down on your floor / And listen to records”). Seems like a little bit of a struggle is good for these guys. (Abby)