The keyboardist/backing vocalist, aka “kind of a [mustached] fox in a hedgehog band,” told Paste the Hold Steady have “one big idea — making literate, wordy lyrics over big anthemic rock — and the last two records were about as good as I felt like I could do with that idea.”
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maybe he just realized he was in an overrated shite band
Yeah, uh, if you read the rest of the article, you see that what he really wants to do is fucking tap dancing and vaudeville, because that’s the road to true artistic progress, apparently. What a pompous ass. The band is better off without him – you know all the super-cheesy piano parts and idiot decisions like adding synthesizers to “Navy Sheets” were this douche’s idea.
he has a point. as a Hold Steady fan the last two records were great, but are they really going to put out another one that’s basically the same?
I’m not the biggest Hold Steady fan by any means, but he’s a fox, and they’re hedgehogs? I understand the reference, but the implication is ugly. The two people who are going to show up to Mercury Lounge to watch him tap dance and play the accordion would not be there if it weren’t for that band. Listen to “Jeff Penalty” from his solo album a couple of times and wonder how he looked Craig Finn in the eyes after that garbage that would have been laughed off a Hold Steady album for its blatant attempt and complete failure to work in that vein. On the other hand, God bless him. Going off thinking he’s some sort of troubador on an excursion of artistic purity, able to travel under the radar to points unknown to spread his vision. I think that’s called, “nobody cares.”