Fun Fun Fun Fest Profile: The Hold Steady [#F3F]

The Hold Steady on MySpace

The Hold Steady at Fun Fun Fun Fest
Sunday, November 7
Waterloo Park (403 E. 15th)
7:45pm, Orange Stage
[info] | [tickets]

There’s a distinct line between homage and imitation, and the members of the Hold Steady are no imitators. The band formed on a foundation of skepticism and hard luck: frontman Craig Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler spent six years trying to make it in the Minnesota band Lifter Puller, and by the time the year 2000 rolled around, they figured their run was done. Finn took an office job with no thought of looking back. But just a couple of years later, he and Kubler, who were now based in Brooklyn, found a few recruits and formed the Hold Steady. There were no frills and there wasn’t a whole lot of ambition—just straight rock in the vein of rough-edged outfits like the Replacements.

But over the course of three albums, the band paid flattering tribute to classic rock’s best aspects while also giving those aspects a sharp, literary tweak. Finn used the songs on the band’s second album, Separation Sunday, as a vehicle to sketch depraved characters who stumbled through gritty, drug-ridden narratives. Over slick solos and punk urgency, he sprinkled these junkies with a sense of irony, painting them as born-agains who felt closest to God and heaven while high. And this wit, paired with Finn’s growling vocal delivery, took the Hold Steady around the world, opening for some of their biggest inspirations, like the Rolling Stones.

This year, the band released its fifth full-length, Heaven Is Whenever, which is another strong Hold Steady release that checks in on some of Finn’s characters with songs like the melancholy “The Weekenders.” But ultimately, the album is just another testament to the same inimitable trait that the band’s Fun Fun Fun Fest set surely will be - studied, distinctive and hard-driving musicianship.

The Hold Steady: [official]