It's been a long time coming. Last week I picked up Boys and Girls of America by The Hold Steady. I have to admit it was exciting to finally be in the check out line with this album whose shrink wrap is anointed with critical blessings from so many credible sources. How could so many be anything but dead-on? Previously the only tracks I'd heard were "Massive Nights" and an acoustic version of "Stuck Between Stations" which I thought were absolutely great-- lyrically adroit and most of all fun. At it's best, Boys and Girls of America is upbeat and spunky plus a dash of cerebral for brilliant lines like "he was drunk and exhausted but he was critcally acclaimed and respected," plus you can't go wrong making Kerouac references. Very rarely is it possible to take the music out of the equation and be left with literary pieces instead of a song. Craig Finn writes densely with so many allusions that it's not nearly enough to just listen intently. "He's Tennyson in denim and sheepskin." I could live off lyrics like those. It reminds me of "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan except it's obvious that Finn was not trying to be a cheap Dylan wannabe and is at heart a storyteller.
So about the rest of the album...it's a tough call. At first I was disappointed because none of the songs seemed to jump the way the other two did and there's regrettable repetition of phrases like "clicks and hisses," and "pipe made from a Pringles can." It felt like the song Marty Robins wrote so many years after "El Paso," adequately named "El Paso City," which was literally a retelling of the former but this time he was suggesting that he'd been the hero of the song in another life. Dude! I can hear the neurons frying! In this case, sharp gives way to boozy and drug-addled, resulting in the feeling that the chance for excellence was squandered.
If there is one song I really and truly hate, it's "Chillout Tent." The female vocalist grates on me like nothing ever has before. I would just remove that cut from the album all together. It's like Bonnaroo the musical. Honestly, the news coverage is enough for me. On the flip side, there are good things about this album. The overall sound is authentic, accessible, riff-ladden rock which doesn't take itself too seriously but is so legitimate. While not being stripped down, The Hold Steady keeps it relatively simple, avoiding getting glossy or overproduced.
The picture painted is of those lovely people we all know who are supreme underachievers. They're having a great time coasting through life and we are ever so fond of them. As for buying the CD, in the end I'm glad I did. It's worth having in the collection for the gems like "Chips Ahoy" and "Southtown Girls" which serve as incentives to play it again. So, if for some reason you don't have it yet, it is worth consideration...or impulse. Just Skip over "Chillout Tent."
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