Hold Steady - Boys & Girls In America

The Hold Steady might be copping pretty heavy from Bruce Springsteen on their Boys and Girls In America, but what's wrong with sounding a little like the Boss? Sure, the riffs are big and the lyrics are all about drifters and teenagers, but frontman Craig Finn's penchant for wordplay and humorous storytelling give the disc its own original voice. Tracks like the raucous opener Stuck Between Stations and the new single, Chips Ahoy weave quirky narrative into good ol' fashioned rock 'n' roll, while tracks like Citrus show a more restrained storytelling. If Bruce fronted Thin Lizzy, it might sound something like this.

Postscript - This is a review that ended up not running in the Star-Telegram. I know it's been awhile since I've posted, as the newspaper world has owned me for the last few weeks, but expect some more bad-ass posts on the way. Musicgluttons - unite! (But if we're going to do that, we better make sure we all have seats in the same place)