Concert Review: The Hold Steady @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn (6/29/08)

Before heading over to McCarren Park Pool today, I had read many internet/magazine articles featuring confident claims of The Hold Steady as being the best live act in the US right now. The fact that these are songs aimed to please the sing-along, fist-pumping fan is pretty apparent just from listening to their anthem-filled rock library (that has quickly accumulated into four albums over the past five years). So when The Hold Steady started playing their first song "Constructive Summer" off their upcoming album "Stay Positive", all of my doubts of the band fulfilling these claims were immediately extinguished.

The Hold Steady pack a punch harder than almost any other band I've seen in concert. Their lead singer and songwriter Craig Finn is largely responsible for this, with his hard-hitting, slacker vocals reminding us of so many other fearless rockers of the past. His lack of vocal talent is ultimately endearing, making us realize that it's personality and individuality rather than talent that has made some of the most technically unqualified vocalists some of rock's most beloved (Dylan, Jagger, Westerberg, etc.) There's also a tremendous band there to back him up, led primarily by the fantastically confident Tad Kubler on lead guitar. Keyboardist Franz Nicolay also lends a key melodic element to the songs. Finn comically spends more time waving his arms to and fro rather than actually playing his guitar (which is not necessarily a bad thing).

And of course, what better to complete a the rock concert experience than the energy of the fans themselves. And man oh man does this band have some insanely loyal fans. It amazes me how the majority of people surrounding me knew every single word of every Kerouac-ian verse flying out of Finn's mouth. There was an incredible level of connection between the fans and the song's content. It really shows that the spirit of rock and roll can still permeate from every pore and every breath of a fan just as it has in decades past, and The Hold Steady are a key act in lighting the way for numerous boys and girls in America today.

The Hold Steady - Same Kooks

Album Review: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut is one of the most immediately loveable debuts to come along since The Strokes' 2001 Is This It. Similar to this modern classic, Vampire Weekend's debut features a terse selection of fairly simplistic yet incredibly hooky tunes that make repeated listenings almost a no-brainer.

The sound that the band culminates from various sources is where the brilliance of the record lies, with VW's singer/songwriter Ezra Koenig uniquely meshing elements of Afro-pop, punk, and new wave into one, solid package. It's easy to visualize the band's melodies and compositions strutting across the musical staff in a cool, confident, and trendy way. The boys from Columbia are no strangers to knowing what makes oodles of vest-wearing, book carrying college kids drool over music. The content of tracks like "Oxford Comma" and "Campus" easily jive with this audience, while the tightly arranged "M79" sounds like it jumped straight from the soundtrack of a Wes Anderson movie.

While the band can be criticized by some for too-heavily channeling the spirit of Paul Simon's Graceland, one must realize all of the other cards that are at play here. The band truly sounds like nothing that's been put out before, and nothing that's out now. It's a gratifying listen from start to finish, and then from start to finish again, and again... and again.

Key Tracks:
A-Punk
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
The Kids Don't Stand A Chance

Final Verdict: 9.0

List: Sauw's Top 100 Albums of All Time

100 Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
99 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
98 Television - Marquee Moon
97 The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
96 Kanye West - The College Dropout
95 Moby - Play
94 Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
93 Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
92 Mile Davis - Kind of Blue
91 Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
90 Paul Simon - Graceland
89 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
88 U2 - The Joshua Tree
87 Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
86 Randy Newman - Sail Away
85 George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
84 The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
83 The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
82 Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
81 Counting Crows - Recovering The Satellites
80 Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
79 Talking Heads - Remain In Light
78 Damien Rice - O
77 Van Morrison - Moondance
76 Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
75 Spoon - Girls Can Tell
74 The Velvet Underground - Loaded
73 Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
72 Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
71 Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
70 Neil Young - After The Gold Rush
69 The Wrens - The Meadowlands
68 The Postal Service - Give Up
67 Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
66 Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
65 The Beatles - Revolver
64 Ben Kweller - On My Way
63 Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
62 Radiohead - In Rainbows
61 Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
60 The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
59 The Strokes - Room On Fire
58 Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
57 Sigur Ros - ( )
56 Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
55 The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
54 Weezer - Pinkerton
53 The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
52 Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
51 Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
50 The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
49 Annuals - Be He Me
48 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
47 John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
46 R.E.M. - Murmur
45 Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
44 Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
43 The Beatles - Let It Be
42 Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
41 The Band - The Band
40 The Replacements - Tim
39 Radiohead - Kid A
38 David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust…
37 Doves - Some Cities
36 Joni Mitchell - Blue
35 The National- Boxer
34 Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
33 The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
32 Beck - Odelay
31 Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
30 Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
29 The Clash- London Calling
28 Pixies - Doolittle
27 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
26 The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
25 Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
24 New Pornographers, The - Twin Cinema
23 Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World
22 Radiohead - The Bends
21 Nick Drake - Pink Moon
20 Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
19 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
18 Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
17 The White Stripes - Elephant
16 Stevens, Sufjan - Illinois
15 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
14 The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
13 Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
12 Rolling Stones, The - Exile on Main St.
11 Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
10 Buckley, Jeff - Grace
9 Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
8 The Streets - Original Pirate Material
7 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
6 My Morning Jacket - Z
5 Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
4 The Strokes - Is This It
3 Counting Crows - August and Everything After
2 Radiohead - OK Computer
1 Arcade Fire - Funeral