The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
The Hold Steady have always been one of those bands who have never quite been able to take hold of one huge particular fanbase. They rock just a little too hard and have a little too much fun to appeal to the “sniffling indie kids”, and their approach to songwriting is just a little too quirky for the mainstream rock audience. However, this latest album seems to show them reaching for that broader fanbase, and for the most part pulling it off.
First off, I forgot to mention in my Hold Steady retrospecticus that keyboardist Franz Nicolay left The Hold Steady prior to the recording of Heaven Is Whenever. Nicolay not only had a sweet mustache, but also added a nice musical complexity to The Hold Steady’s hard-rockin’ sound and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I miss his presence on this album. In his place is a return to a somewhat more heavy guitar-driven sound and this leads to a few moments on the album that have a bit of a “been-there-done-that” feel to them.
However, the album is also filled with plenty of moments that see the band branching out musically such as the uncharacteristically laid-back album-opening “Sweet Part Of The City”, or the aching ballad “We Can Get Together”. But the most enjoyable songs on the album are the ones that see the band taking their joyous riff-based rock sound in a huge, almost cinematic direction on songs like “Rock Problems” and “Hurricane J”. “The Weekenders” even finds The Hold Steady exploring almost U2-esque territory, and surprisingly they actually make it work.
When I think about it, this album kind of reminds me of Pleased To Meet Me, the 1987 album by fellow Minnesotans and one of The Hold Steady’s biggest influences, The Replacements. That album showed The Replacements trying to reach a more mainstream audience, but not quite being able to make that transition despite the fact that there’s some great material on that album. However, on that album The ‘Mats seemed like they were sort of at the end of their rope, while on this album The Hold Steady seem like they’ve still got plenty of good rockin’ left in the tank.
Favorite Tracks: “The Weekenders”, “Rock Problems”, “Our Whole Lives”
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