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Post by jwd on May 3, 2010 15:43:41 GMT -5
That was one of the most bizarre reviews I've ever read. Is Thomas Pynchon writing reviews at NY Times now? |
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meoskop
True Scene Leader
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Post by meoskop on May 3, 2010 15:47:10 GMT -5
That was one of the most bizarre reviews I've ever read. Is Thomas Pynchon writing reviews at NY Times now? That was almost bitter - like listening to someone's ex girlfriend from middle school get drunk at his dream wedding. |
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cre618
True Scene Leader
Posts: 714
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Post by cre618 on May 3, 2010 17:30:21 GMT -5
I like this one from allmusic.com: www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfwxz9sldseReview by Gregory Heaney After the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay, it seemed almost inevitable that the Hold Steady would return to the dollar pitcher fueled, bar-rock stomp of Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday. Instead, the freshly made quartet branched out in a slightly different direction for their fifth album, Heaven Is Whenever. Rather than writing another hard rocking novella, the album feels more like the soundtrack to a lonely Midwestern road trip, making it more of a road-weary version of Boys and Girls in America than a re-creation of their earlier work. The album has a quality about it that’s sweeping without being out and out uplifting, feeling more informed by the rigors of touring than the denizens of the Twin Cities and their lapsed Catholic revelations. While some of the characters are still alive and kicking on the album, the focus seems to be more on mood than continuity. The psychic girl and her boyfriend/accomplice from “Chips Ahoy!” reappear on “The Weekenders,” but now we find them more downtrodden as Finn sings “There was a kid camped out by the coat check/She said the theme of this party is the industrial age/You came in dressed like a train wreck.” Tying the songs together are the choruses, which share the same “woah-oh-oh” backing vocals, making “The Weekenders” feel like a downtempo reprise of the first installment of their story. It’s not all tales of the down and out, though. “We Can Get Together” feels like a more romantic, less drug-fueled take on “Hornets! Hornets!,” where an enamored narrator hangs on the every word of his lady, but the slithering guitar riff is replaced by a shimmering ballad, turning a haggard bar crawl into a sweet slow dance. Make no mistake, the rock is still here, but it’s less Thin Lizzy and more Bruce Springsteen. Without the prominent keys of their last two albums, a lot of the heavy lifting is back on the shoulders of guitarist Tad Kubler (whose twisting riff on “The Smidge” is one of his best in years). The big difference between Heaven Is Whenever and the earlier albums is that Kubler seems ready to take on the challenge of creating that emotional weight that the organ and keys brought to the party, using the guitar to create an emotional landscape using a “less is more” approach rather than piling on snarling riffs. While fans expecting the second coming of Almost Killed Me might be disappointed, Heaven Is Whenever shows a band that just isn’t willing to backslide into their old ways, instead opting to continue forward with a reverence for their past work that reminds us of who the Hold Steady were, all the while giving us a glimpse of who they’re going to be. |
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stevedave
True Scene Leader
Makin' meals out of marzipan
Posts: 747
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Post by stevedave on May 3, 2010 17:39:26 GMT -5
The guy who wrote this is a Twat. |
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Camie
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 1,093
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Post by Camie on May 3, 2010 18:39:52 GMT -5
I am really confused by that NY Times review....
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loupap
Cityscape Skin
Posts: 35
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Post by loupap on May 3, 2010 18:40:38 GMT -5
Nice piece in the Boston Globe:
Barroom rock with some brains
The Hold Steady, ‘Heaven is Whenever’
Vagrant
ESSENTIAL “Soft in the Center’’
One of the risks in listening too attentively to a lyricist like Craig Finn is that his songs are charged with so many beer-sodden maxims you can get a contact buzz rummaging around for a sort of thesis. “You could probably do anything if you could just get yourself right,’’ he sings on “Soft in the Center,’’ the standout track from the Brooklyn band’s new album. Elsewhere he warbles, “We’re good guys, but we can’t be good our whole lives.’’
Talk about playing to your crowd. “Heaven Is Whenever’’ is the type of self-deprecating solipsism tailor-made for fans of barroom rock still waiting around for Huey Lewis to finish an MFA program. They’re the people who’ve elevated the Hold Steady to “only band that matters now’’ status. In this reliably anthemic package it’s also unabashed fun.
The departure of keyboard player Franz Nicolay prior to the recording of this album sent fanboys into a fit. But while his absence is felt in the guitar-forward arrangements, “Heaven’’ is yet another collection of loquaciously gritty pop-rock songs about bad girls and the bad boys who love them. Finn’s dexterous, shredded croon is in top form on “Hurricane J’’ and “The Weekenders,’’ songs that build up a gang-vocal momentum. Burners like “Rock Problems’’ continue to repackage classic-rock populism for the boozy bibliophile set.
With “Heaven Is Whenever,’’ it seems unlikely that the Hold Steady will again change how we talk about modern rock, but when a band has already framed the parameters of the debate, it doesn’t necessarily have to. (Out tomorrow) -- LUKE O’NEIL
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Post by 530folkmass on May 3, 2010 18:47:24 GMT -5
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Post by Ellie J on May 3, 2010 19:08:27 GMT -5
I feel as though I am far too sober to understand this review. I think I'm going to print it out and put it in my messenger bag to see if it makes any sense next time I'm drinking. |
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Post by getincredible on May 3, 2010 19:27:55 GMT -5
I am really confused by that NY Times review.... Seriously, what the hell is that guy talking about? Reading that gave me vertigo... |
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bigrob
Midnight Hauler
i guess i knew it was coming
Posts: 1,352
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Post by bigrob on May 3, 2010 19:31:25 GMT -5
I am really confused by that NY Times review.... Seriously, what the hell is that guy talking about? Reading that gave me vertigo... I'm just really pissed that I apparently missed their fifth album. |
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Post by getincredible on May 3, 2010 21:37:45 GMT -5
"They’re staying local and long-term. They’ve always been writing album No. 6."
Lol, what is this guy's deal?
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Post by ontheradio on May 3, 2010 22:10:45 GMT -5
That was one of the most bizarre reviews I've ever read. Is Thomas Pynchon writing reviews at NY Times now? they're just writing post-post-modern reviews now. that's how hip the ny times is. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2010 22:17:38 GMT -5
Is Thomas Pynchon writing reviews at NY Times now? That was almost bitter - like listening to someone's ex girlfriend from middle school get drunk at his dream wedding. i'm sorry but that review is brilliant. listening to Craig makes you want to write like Craig but this guy, a pro NY Times writer, actually did it "So this is Brooklyn bar-band rock? Springsteen in quotation marks? Drop your lighters, hold up library cards instead? " and that sums up part of THS pretty well and why aren't there really THS cover bands? kinda wish he'd wrote the New Pornographers review as Dan Bejar though and man that New Porn review makes them sound like kin to THS, especially all the 'together' songs. need that album... love the band so much |
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Camie
Midnight Hauler
Posts: 1,093
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Post by Camie on May 3, 2010 22:30:21 GMT -5
Tlon - I get what you are saying, but I have to disagree.... I can almost always understand what Craig is saying in a song... they make sense.
The NY Times review does not make any sense.
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Post by doctoracula on May 3, 2010 22:35:00 GMT -5
i only care what the av club has to say
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2010 22:50:57 GMT -5
i only care what the av club has to say are you on there? I'm Lovecraft In Brooklyn someone always beats me to the obvious THS/LifterPuller reference and yeah the NY Times review... i can't parse it, but i kinda like it. Craig's lyrics get in your head that way it is pretty amateurish though i would have continued on from the New Pornographers review, since it mentions two 'Together' songs and lots of nostalgia/mining of old forms... used that as a lead in to THS, then exploded all that with Broken Social Scene review, who aren't really beholden to the same nostalgia but that's me |
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Post by doctoracula on May 3, 2010 22:51:58 GMT -5
i dont post on the av club, but i read it religiously
i trust their reviews more than any other site
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2010 23:13:54 GMT -5
i dont post on the av club, but i read it religiously i trust their reviews more than any other site i mostly read the features don't trust the videogame reviews, though rest of the site is awesome |
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Post by doctoracula on May 3, 2010 23:16:11 GMT -5
i dont really play video games, so no worries there!
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Post by muzzleofbees on May 3, 2010 23:45:57 GMT -5
I'm just really pissed that I apparently missed their fifth album. A Positive Rage. Personally I don't regard it as an album in that sense. But historically, it's not that unusual to look at live albums as just another album. The album is getting a lot better reception that I thought it would. That's nice! And even though I liked it right from the start, it has grown on me as well. |
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Post by muzzleofbees on May 4, 2010 0:04:59 GMT -5
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Post by doctoracula on May 4, 2010 0:11:01 GMT -5
um...what song has an intrusive synth?
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Post by doctoracula on May 4, 2010 0:12:03 GMT -5
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Post by shadytransactor on May 4, 2010 0:25:19 GMT -5
um...what song has an intrusive synth? "Navy Sheets" Oh...wait.. |
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Post by muzzleofbees on May 4, 2010 1:03:43 GMT -5
Don't know about the synth, but doesn't it sound like a synth on both We Can Get Together and Our Whole Lives? The horn sound on the latter sound a bit artificial. And could it be that the reviewer confuses quite produced and slick backing vocals with synths?
The big and smooth sound of the backing vocals was one of my first problems with the album. Now, that the sound has grown on me, I kind of like it. The Stereogum comment about Separation Sunday taking a bath and a shave is quite describing.
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