Album Review: The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever

Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade recently described his band as aiming to create a “wall of counterpoint”, which (when you’re done spluttering) goes a long way to describing what makes the difference between bands who can arrange great songs, and bands who merely stumble onto lots of good tunes. The Hold Steady’s 2006 commercial breakthrough record, Boys and Girls in America, was a hook-laden masterpiece because the band layered up every good idea they’d had to date, and by the end of Craig Finn’s trilogy, he could wander around in his world effortlessly. It seemed implausible that it took so long, but someone had finally followed up Born to Run. With 2008's Stay Positive, Craig Finn put aside the main characters from the trilogy, and narrated a semi-fictional murder-case. For better or for worse, the album had a reason for its dumb moments – its widdly guitar solos and hollered choruses – contrasting the comedowns and the dark discoveries.

In a sense, Heaven Is Whenever takes as many steps back as it does forwards – the riffs are blunt and bludgeoning, sometimes verging on 80s hair-metal, while Craig digs up a few of his old characters (without naming names), and even digs up some of his old references (Meat Loaf’s ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’, gets quoted for the second time; the first being ‘Certain Songs’). The most immediate tracks (‘Soft in the Center’, ‘The Weekenders’, ‘Hurricane J’) barely depart from the ‘Stuck between Stations’ / ‘Chips Ahoy’ formula but, by way of evolution, ‘The Smidge’ offers a psychedelic haze of backwards guitars, and ‘Barely Breathing’ has a bluesy climax of horns. Not counting the medley that ended Stay Positive, the band close with their longest song yet, ‘A Slight Discomfort’.

Problem is, repeated listens still leave you with the sense of The Hold Steady treading water – those big rock songs don’t surpass their predecessors, however close they come; those attempts to enlarge the sonic palette are just that. When the band cribbed the classic riff from ‘TV Eye’ (by the Stooges) on Almost Killed Me, it felt like they had a time machine, Bill & Ted style: they were going back to their youth to show how redemptive, and risky, and life-affirming rock’n’roll can be. ‘Rock Problems’ from the present album might sound like ‘Anarchy in the UK’ but suffers by comparison, because it’s just a dumb riff without politics or a chorus. That long final song? It’s just a song that gets drawn out way too long.

Plus, the recently departed Franz Nicolay proves absolutely invaluable – his replacement valiantly replicates his signature runs across the keys, but none of the piano lines (and there aren’t nearly as many) are quite as sprightly, and the contrast between Nicolay’s exuberant backing vocals (slinging in extra syllables and graces notes) and Finn’s flat, sardonic delivery now seems to have been a crucial part of The Hold Steady’s chemistry. Don’t get me wrong – this record is Oh-h-h Kay – but even if you don’t need the “wall of counterpoint” to enjoy a song (compare the endearing clumsiness of ‘Certain Songs’ with the sweet AND sophisticated ‘First Night’ to see what I mean), you’re getting less bang for your buck.

When Craig’s at his best, as a lyricist, it’s often because he’s affirming old truths, and treating other people’s songs like gospel – and that’s great; the kids always need a sense of transcendence and belonging, even if they don’t have God and religion – here, the stand-out lines are mostly re-treads of old ones (“New York City… I love it when you turn on your lights / our struggle still feels wonderful tonight”). ‘Soft in the Center’, on the other hand, makes me feel wistful for the hard-bitten realism of ‘You Can Make Him Like You’ – Craig’s talked about reaching out to young fans, but the sentiment’s confused at best, ugly at worst (“you can’t get every girl… you can only have the ones you love”). Like I said: Oh-h-h Kay. Maybe there’s a way forward – The Hold Steady can do a fair impersonation of Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band, but how about impersonating Bruce's earlier impersonators? If Bat Out of Hell means so much to Craig, why hasn’t he written any 8, 9, or 10 minute, multi-part songs? In short – thanks for the singles, we’ll be singing along at the shows, but come back when you’re ready to wow us.