![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/The-Hold-Steady-Heaven-Is-Whenever.jpg\" "\\"The-Hold-Steady-Heaven-Is-Whenever\\"")
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\u201cHeaven is whenever\/We can get together\/Lock your bedroom door\/And listen to your records\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Until now we haven’t been able to hold on to The Hold Steady.\u00a0 No matter how much we like reading <\/em>Craig Finn’s lyrics, when combined with a musical meld of Thin Lizzy, Meatloaf, The Replacements and Bruce Springsteen, and delivered in Finn’s monotonous monotone, we have heretofore repeatedly hit “skip” on the band’s offerings.\u00a0 In short, there’s been far too much bar and not enough band in their bar-band motif for us.<\/p>\n But whether we have devolved or the band has evolved, with their latest record, “Heaven is Whenever,” we are suddenly able to grasp and hold on to the Hold Steady rocksteady.\u00a0 The new record’s variety, meatier arrangements, dynamics and added vocal flourishes have made believers out of us.\u00a0 As a result, we can finally hear<\/em> the songs and stories of normal, yearning American youth questing for release out in that great American everywhere where kids are Born to Run, but too often too deferential and despondent in that Darkness on the Edge of Town.<\/p>\n Lyrically, Finn is as strong as ever:<\/p>\n \u201cI know bodies of water freeze over\/I\u2019m from a place with lots of lakes\/But sometimes they got soft in the center\/And the center is a dangerous place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t get every girl\/You’ll get the ones you love the best\/You won\u2019t get every girl\/You’ll love the ones you get the best.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hold Steady finally show us on the new record that they don’t just revere classic rock; they can make it too. \u00a0 “Heaven is Whenever” sports more polish and reach without eschewing their trademark exuberance and angst.\u00a0 There’s more subtlety and wisdom here as the band masterfully matures.\u00a0 Yes, there are still bar-band trappings, but space, layers and interest have been added to the musical mix.<\/p>\n Check out We Can Get Together<\/em>, a comparatively delicate rocker with perfectly fragile backing vocals.\u00a0 And Finn’s lyrical bent resonates when he sings of hanging out with an old friend, sitting in her bedroom, and listening to songs about heaven, including one by great, underrated and somewhat obscure Brit-band, Heavenly.\u00a0 Hallelujah, Craig.\u00a0 Oh, and thanks for the reminder:\u00a0 we were saved once or twice by Makes No Sense at All.<\/em><\/p>\n We like this fine stanza from this track:<\/p>\n “And heaven is the whole of the heart.\u00a0 Paradise is by the dashboard light. And check out The Weekenders<\/em>, which deftly builds instead of detonating all at once, and employs bigger choruses and harmonies throughout.\u00a0 We like these wise stanzas from this song:<\/p>\n “So if it has to be a secret then I guess that I can deal with it And now we really regret missing their much-lauded recent show at Soho.\u00a0 We won’t get fooled again, and make that same mistake.<\/p>\n The Hold Steady–We Can Get Together<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n [audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/06-We-Can-Get-Together1.mp3|titles=06 We Can Get Together]<\/em><\/p>\n The Hold Steady–The Weekenders<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n [audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/03-The-Weekenders.mp3|titles=03 The Weekenders]<\/em><\/p>\n And though it’s older, check out the video below.\u00a0 Anybody that holds up Joe Strummer is all right by us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/div>\n
\nUtopia’s a band. They sang ‘Love Is the Answer.’\u00a0 I think they’re probably right.
\nLet it shine down on us all.\u00a0 Let it warm us from within.”<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nGod only knows it’s not always a positive thing
\nTo see a few seconds into the future
\nAnd if you swear to keep it decent
\nThen yeah I’ll come and see you
\nBut it’s not gonna be like in romantic comedies
\nIn the end I bet no one learns a lesson”<\/strong><\/p>\n