At the start of their NY Times play list, Hold Steady are described as pairing “classic rock instrumentals with lyrics that recount tales of lust and murder,” which makes them sound much more extreme than they actually are. If you’d never heard them before coming across the piece, you’d have a difficult time figuring out what they actually sound like based on the bands Craig Finn and Tad Kubler select and talk about as “what they’re listening to now.” What do you get when you mix Brother Ali, John Reis’s the Night Marchers, nomadic musicians Tinariwen (Amrit got turned onto them by the Bedford Cheese Shop and gives them a mighty thumbs up), and Oasis? The Hold Steady, of course. Their thoughts on the brothers Gallagher, aka the Michael Jordans of Brit rock, are pretty interesting:
TAD KUBLER: “Stop the Clocks” (Columbia) is kind of a best of, but they’ve refused to call it a greatest hits. It’s kind of a love-hate thing for me. The chord structures in the songs are brilliant, the melodies fantastic. They’re not reinventing the wheel, but it’s fantastic songwriting. I enjoy that there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye. When you initially hear it, it sounds like sugar-coated pop music. But when you listen, it’s a lot more intricate than you expected. It’s like Michael Jordan makes basketball look easy, but when you actually try to apply that to what you do, it’s incredibly more skillful than you had initially thought. They had four No. 1 singles off their first album. There aren’t a lot of bands that can do something like that. They have continued to write good songs. Like Oasis when we go into the studio, we go in with more material than we know we can put on an album.
CRAIG FINN: I’m not super familiar, I don’t have any Oasis on my iPod or anything. Since I’ve been in the U.K., I’ve seen that since the Beatles they’re the biggest band. They’re huge stars in the media. I don’t really listen to them. When it comes on I like the hits, but I don’t own any records.
Read the article in its entirety here.
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Not newsworthy.
Speaking as a Brit I’d say the Michael Jordan analogy is somewhat over-kind. Can’t fault the Tinariwen recommendation though; they are the definitive rock and roll band.
yawnsies.
I’ll have to remember that for the next time I’m compelled to show everyone how disinterested I am in a post, yet feel like the plain old “yawn” won’t make me look as awesome as I really am.
Uhh…kinda sounds like they don’t know much about Oasis. Kubler actually mentions “Stop the Clocks” when he talks about the band? It took Finn going to the UK to see how huge they are?
The Hold Steady is a great band, and I’m not a huge Oasis fan or anything, but there is nothing here that anyone who listened to the radio in the 90s doesn’t already know.
The Hold Steady are the most overated lame band to come around in years. They are just a weak Springsteen knockoff. They have nothing new to offer like most RnR bands there days. Whatever happened to being original?
What the hell are you talking about?
Your second post is just a weak knockoff of your first post. You have nothing new to offer like most commenters “there” days. Whatever happened to being original?
Hey Bruce, write a song like Stevie Nix or Killer Parties…….oh yeah you can’t. The Hold Steady is the mothafucking shit!
In other news, Craig Finn had a ham sandwich for lunch while Tad Kubler opted for a Greek Salad.
Holy Fucking Here We Go Again.
The Hold Steady are the best band on the planet.
From an objective viewpoint, most can agree that the brothers Gallagher have a few gems to their name despite the abundance of brit pop filler/throwaways in their catalog. How it’s anything worth posting about is anyone’s guess.
the hold steady feature a harpsichord in “stay positive.” craig finn noted that is iPod is black, and he also has a few episodes of family guy on there to punctuate his suckiness.
those guys look like they should be at home crunchin’ numbers and changing diapers.
best band on the planet? try the universe.
Actually, there’s a hot new “bar” band out of Tatooine called The Sit Tights who apparently got a 10.0 from Spaceport Media for their last album “Boy and Girl Jawas in Mos Espa.” Check them out on YouTube.
The Hold Steady aren’t even the best band who write shitty lyrics and can barely play their instruments (that would be The Strokes).
this is the best thing i read on the internet today.
that is the best thing i’ve read on the internet all week.
umm i’m sorry but both the strokes’ guitarists are about 28 times better than your average pitchfork-approved indie band
Seperation Sunday = The best album of all time
I was not a huge Hold Steady fan until I saw them at McCarren pool a few weeks back. Now I just listen to them constantly. Awesome band.
(Click my name to see the photos from the show)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/subcow/sets/72157605900883717/
All you sniffling indie kids, hold steady!
Agreed!!!!!
The Hold Steady are the best band in America……I think I might of mentioned that before!