so I don't understand what the deal is with The Hold Steady. People are always talking about how great their album is, quoting them all the time, writing about them on blogs, etc etc. I've given them a chance, listened to songs, but I just don't like them.
For one, singer Craig Finn crams in so many words to the songs and I don't like his delivery. And the themes of the songs makes them seem like an indie rock version of John Cougar Mellencamp. And I HATE Mellencamp.
They're celebrating the good and bad things about their lifestyle, complete with a lot of banal details - just like Mellencamp. "She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian. She was a damn great dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend." It sounds specific, but it's really not that unique of a thing. It could be you. It's Mellencamp with his girl sucking on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze. Maybe that's all music, appealing to some demographic, but this seems like The Hold Steady are really trying to be the voice of a generation, or at least a point in time. That's fine, lots of bands do it, but this seems really overt to me - which is again just like Mellencamp. "Hey you people who think like this - I do too!"
And I don't like Finn's voice or delivery, which doesn't help matters. It's nasal and monotone and accentuates weird syllables. Futhermore they add in literary references that folks who listen to this kind of music will get immediately. "There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right." "Oh wow! This band likes Kerouac! So do I!" It's almost like a little test for people. And finally, he's just verbose. "The Devil and John Berryman they took a walk together and they ended up on Washington talking to the river." Ok?
So I guess I went on a bit of a riff. That's why I don't like the Hold Steady.
For one, singer Craig Finn crams in so many words to the songs and I don't like his delivery. And the themes of the songs makes them seem like an indie rock version of John Cougar Mellencamp. And I HATE Mellencamp.
They're celebrating the good and bad things about their lifestyle, complete with a lot of banal details - just like Mellencamp. "She was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a Christian. She was a damn great dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend." It sounds specific, but it's really not that unique of a thing. It could be you. It's Mellencamp with his girl sucking on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze. Maybe that's all music, appealing to some demographic, but this seems like The Hold Steady are really trying to be the voice of a generation, or at least a point in time. That's fine, lots of bands do it, but this seems really overt to me - which is again just like Mellencamp. "Hey you people who think like this - I do too!"
And I don't like Finn's voice or delivery, which doesn't help matters. It's nasal and monotone and accentuates weird syllables. Futhermore they add in literary references that folks who listen to this kind of music will get immediately. "There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right." "Oh wow! This band likes Kerouac! So do I!" It's almost like a little test for people. And finally, he's just verbose. "The Devil and John Berryman they took a walk together and they ended up on Washington talking to the river." Ok?
So I guess I went on a bit of a riff. That's why I don't like the Hold Steady.