The Hold Steady have finally announced their long-awaited new album “Thrashing Thru The Passion”, which will be released on August 16th via Frenchkiss Records.
New York City based, The Hold Steady is fronted by singer/lyricist Craig Finn. The first single “Denver Haircut” immediately hits that ever-so-familiar The Hold Steady sound that has made us fall in love with them in the first place. Being their first new album in five years, this is the first album the current incarnation of the band that features both guitarist Steve Selvidge with returning keyboardist Franz Nicolay. The keys paired with that extra layer of guitar makes all the difference and the band sounds like they never ever left but also totally reinvigorated.
“Denver Haircut” is the first song taken from the upcoming album Thrashing Thru The Passion out on Frenchkiss Records,
Craig Finn is the front man of The Hold Steady, however he also an incredible singer-songwriter in his own right. His new solo album is called “I Need A New War”. It is Craig’s third solo record on Partisan Records (his fourth overall) and it cements him as one of today’s most vital storytellers, among the ranks of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits.
I Need A New War feels like another confident step forward from Craig. He tells the stories of people on the margins, focusing on characters who are lost and who have been left behind. There is nothing glamorous about their stories, it is a very “daytime” portrait of these characters. These are also the least American-specific songs that Craig has ever written.
Finn tells us “I Need A New War” is out today. I’m super proud of this record and I owe a ton of gratitude to a bunch of people who got it here. Josh Kaufman is beyond a producer on this music, he’s a co-collaborator and a spiritual guide. He’s become hugely important to me in the past five years. Life changing, actually. Joe Russo brought his spectacular musical sense to another record with me. His percussion playing and input brought so much life to this music. D. James Goodwin engineered, mixed and hosted at The Isokon and made it all sound incredible.
Stuart Bogie added so much emotion with his soulful sax playing and Raymond Mason & Dave Nelson rounded out the amazing horn section. Annie Nero & Cassandra Jenkins sound so fantastic singing together and their backup vocals are a major defining part of this record. Sam Kassirer played the piano that classes up the whole thing. Dave Gardner mastered elegantly. Dan Monick took the rad cover photo again and Vance Wellenstein put the artwork together. Partisan Records allowed all of this to happen.
I love each and every one of these people. Thank you all for being a part of it and thank you to everyone who listens.
Craig Finn & The We All Want The Same Things Band performing “Carmen Isn’t Coming In Today” live at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. “Carmen Isn’t Coming In Today” A track from Craig Finn’s new album ‘I Need A New War’ out April 26th on Partisan Records
The We All Want The Same Things Band features Stuart Bogie, Cassandra Jenkins, Sam Kassirer, Josh Kaufman, Raymond Mason, Annie Nero, Joe Russo, and Jon Shaw
We’ve really enjoyed Constructive Summer the past few months especially the shows where we play Stay Positive from front to back. It’s been thrilling to play songs we haven’t tackled a lot in the past 10 years and we hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have. Now we’re excited to announce in celebration of 10 years of Stay Positive, a reissue of the album on vinyl that’s been put together with our friends at Vagrant Records. Here’s the rundown on the 10 Year Anniversary Deluxe Edition:
—3LP Triple Gatefold w/Die Cut Jacket
—Cut at 45RPM
—Original Album Plus 8 B-sides
—Remastered by Dave Gardner
—Limited Edition Colored Vinyl
The official street date is December 7th. Keep your eyes open for an opportunity to order the album on limited edition colored vinyl directly, with the option to purchase a vintage reissue Stay Positive t-shirt and poster.
There are still a limited amount of tickets available for the first two shows of Massive Nights III at Brooklyn Bowl November 28 & 29. As with previous Massive Nights shows at Brooklyn Bowl, we’ll have surprise openers each night and the Wednesday, November 28th show will be a Stay Positive celebration, with the album being performed in full. Thanks for listening, thanks for understanding and….Stay Positive! The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady crush New York City from this West 4th Street rooftop, busting out the hits from their album Stay Positive. And yup, if you’re wondering, the gong actually does get used.
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive [Reissue/2880] 3xLP (Vagrant)
10th anniversary reissue on 3xLP triple gatefold with die cut jacket. Cut at 45rpm for audiophiles. Includes original album, rarities, plus three never before released tracks.
Recorded live at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 26th, 2018.
We’ve had a blast throughout 2018 doing these long weekends of shows – our first shows in London since 2014, Constructive Summer in Philly/NJ, San Francisco and Toronto; extended Constructive Summer with some beer fests in Chicago and Minneapolis; and, of course, finishing up last weekend at Brooklyn Bowl in New York for Massive Nights III.
Whether you realize it or not, we’re recording these shows so we can share the memories with you. This is the first set of live recordings to celebrate — the first night in Philadelphia at Union Transfer.
Philly in July was a true highlight. It’s always been a fun place to play for us, and Union Transfer is really an incredible club. We remember a great atmosphere in the club that night, and we met a bunch of cool people before and after the shows. Enjoy reliving it!
This will be available pay-as-you want for only a limited time. We’ll have some more surprises in the coming weeks and months and if you choose to download these recordings, the money will go towards continuing to record and release as many of the live events as possible and any additional funds will go to the K+L Guardian Foundation.
Thanks for listening, thanks for understanding and Stay Positive! Happy Holidays and see you in 2019!
Devinyl Splits No. 7 features Craig Finn & The Uptown Controllers on Side A and Kevin Devine on Side B. The split was released in March 2018, with digital downloads being delivered to your inbox before the release date. The splits are in hand already and will ship on time.
Craig Finn & The Uptown Controllers contribute “Galveston” a song in which the weaving, story-telling songwriting that has defined Finn’s career to date is on full display. Finn plays in the band The Hold Steady and released his most recent solo album, We All Want The Same Things, also in March 2017.
Kevin Devine contributes “Kuala Lumpur,” his first new song since the release of October 2016’s wonderful album Instigator. Devine also released an acoustic reimagining of Instigator, titled We Are Who We’ve Always Been, in October 2017.
Hey Everyone!
We’ve always loved playing in the UK, and we are extremely excited for the shows coming up in London on March 9/10/11. These will be such a blast. To celebrate in advance, we thought we’d drop two more new Hold Steady songs directly to the fans. Check them out:
1. Eureka
2. Esther
These songs were recorded in Brooklyn in November at the same sessions as “Entitlement Crew” and “A Snake In The Shower”. We are excited to share them with you.These will be available for the fans here on Bandcamp for this week, and next week we will make them available via the major digital music providers.
If you choose to download these two songs, a donation will be made to benefit the K+L Guardian Foundation. ALL monies received from downloads will be transferred to the K+L Guardian Foundation.
The K+L Guardian Foundation was formed to benefit “Jersey” Mike Van Jura’s children after he suddenly passed away in November 2012 at only 36 years of age.
Released March 5th, 2018 The Hold Steady “Eureka” b/w “Esther”
The Hold Steady are: Bobby Drake, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Franz Nicolay, Galen Polivka, Steve Selvidge
Additional performers: Stuart Bogie, Michael Leonhart, Annie Nero
There’s a danger that pushing everything through the Trumpian prism collapses some of the intricacies and nuances of art. After all, The Donald is a product of the disaffection CraigFinn is exploring here, not the cause. The problem is deeper and more complex than any government-related trouble, and Finn is too wise to offer much in the way of an answer. Instead, he suggests we shift the focus of our questions. Because We All Want the Same Things is an album about relationships, but not in the usual sense. Not the transcendental, star-aligned love of Billboard hits and Hollywood flicks but coupling based on common needs. Not life-changing answers but life-preserving strategies. Luckily, in the hands of Craig Finn, this version of ‘romance’ feels somehow more fulfilling, the opposite of cynical, for better or for worse, genuinely human. Perhaps the revolution in the conclusion isn’t some violent revolt or epiphanic break, rather a gradual yet constant commitment to challenging our own expectations. To stop wanting too much for ourselves and to start being sympathetic to others. A comeback story, of sorts.”
Even on their first album, these Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis dudes had it all: drugs, sex, Catholic guilt, trashy bar-band guitars. Craig Finn splutters his crazed one-liners about killer parties gone bad, from “Mary got a bloody nose from sniffing margarita mix” to “I did a couple favors for these guys who looked like Tusken Raiders.” “Certain Songs” pays tribute to a bar where the jukebox has the perfect ratio of Meat Loaf to Billy Joel. Commercial? Not exactly. Yet the Hold Steady sounded so real and raw, so loaded with wit and compassion and energy, this made them a word-of-mouth sensation.
To celebrate the release of deluxe remastered editions of ALMOST KILLED ME and SEPARATION SUNDAY, all of the members of The Hold Steady share their memories from recording the band’s first two albums, with added insight from others involved in making the first two records in this podcast series.
Part One features a conversation between Craig Finn & Tad Kubler, founders and lead songwriters.
Come back this Friday for part two with Galen Polivka – and remember, both albums are available Now on LP/CD/Digital! Order at http://www.theholdsteady.net#
The long-awaited release of the deluxe editions of our first two LPs are available on Frenchkiss Records! The Deluxe Edition LPs mark the first time both albums have been available on vinyl in more than a decade.
ALMOST KILLED ME: DELUXE EDITION comes joined with five rare tracks, including the very first Hold Steady 7” single, “Milkcrate Mosh,” and songs previously only available on the album’s original Australian CD release. It’s on blue vinyl.
SEPARATION SUNDAY: DELUXE EDITION features six additional tracks, including the never before available “212-Margarita” and “The Most Important Thing” along with previously unreleased demos of “Cattle and the Creeping Things,” “Charlemagne in Sweatpants,” and “Crucifixion Cruise.” It’s on white vinyl.
All extras are available on the Deluxe Edition CD releases and via vinyl download cards.
Today marks the anniversary of the release of Boys and Girls in America. People often mention to me that this album had a huge impact on them.
The Hold Steady made a new generation of indie kids feel like they were reborn when they first heard Boys and Girls In America. Released October. 3rd, 2006, it was the Brooklyn band’s third album turned them into darlings of the indie rock world. It was among the Best Album’s of 2006. The Guardian gave it five out of five stars, saying, “Finn’s lyrics, combining precise observation with poetic sensibility — he is an astonishing writer — would mean less without the power of the band behind him.”
While Separation Sunday had done really well , Boys & Girls kicked everything into a higher gear- more shows, bigger shows, more travel, more craziness. Craig Finn explains
The album was the first written with Franz and piano fully integrated into the band. We were also coming off a lot of touring for SepSunday, and had built and tested a well oiled rock and roll machine (and also a well oiled rock and roll lifestyle). We had fans that were eagerly awaiting the next release- that was new. And we worked with a top notch producer in John Agnello, who brought out some things that we hadn’t previously thought of. The recording at Water Music in Hoboken was an absolute blast. One thing that I still marvel at is “You Can Make Him Like You”– it came together in about 10 minutes, and still is a song I love to play.
A lot of the praise was centered on frontman’s Craig Finn’s ability to use Springsteen-like storytelling and instrumentation to tell tales of modern skater kids, hood rats and druggies. Boys and Girls in America sounded like a punk rock take on Darkness On The Edge Of Town there’s a piano break in opening track “Stuck BetweenStations” so reminiscent of E Streeter Roy Bittan that for a moment the song could be a Boss outtake.
Finn acknowledged the similarities even while pushing back against them
“Obviously that classic bar-rock thing is something we go for, and Springsteen has done it very well,” Finn said. “But I hate to make such a one-to-one comparison because a lot has happened musically since the E Street Band made those records 30 years ago.” “I think the [Springsteen] comparison ends with the guitars,” guitarist Tad Kubler said
He was right, a lot had happened. And nearly every trend in straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll was absorbed by the HoldSteady to make Boys and Girls in America. Obviously alternative icons such as the Clash and the Replacements but so were mainstream rock in ’70s bands like Kiss and particulary Cheap Trick sounds, fans found plenty to dig on the LP. Perhaps one of the reasons this album still connects with people is that Boys and Girls in America STILL have such a sad time together. Some of the mysteries discussed on this album are far from being solved.
Early adopters of the album championed this hybrid style and its rejection of the strutting, preening soundtrack of New York. The album gave the Hold Steady a massive cult following, but it didn’t turn them into stars. Finn believed that their less-commercial sound may have proved difficult in turning their critical acclaim into massive sales.
Still, for a moment, it seemed as if the band would become huge, and the Hold Steady became the first band in 15 years to make the cover of the Village Voice. The Boys and Girls in America tour unfolded with a feel of you-gotta-see-this-band-before-they-are-huge.
But for the band, it still represented a watershed moment — selling 100,000 physical copies isn’t something most rock bands can do these days. And thankfully, a cult can keep a career alive for a long time.
The Fat Angel Sings 