The Steamboat Pilot & Today

The Hold Steady

Steamboat Springs — “Stay Positive”

At some point, bar rock is just bar rock. It’s boozy, it’s slurred, it’s occasionally vulgar.

But then there are the other bar bands, the good ones, like The Hold Steady. These are the bands that bring the narrative back to hyper-American arena anthems, the bands that draw out all the frustrations and complications that bring people to the bar in the first place. Their music is universally appealing, because in the end, all we want is for things to be simple.

As a follow-up to its so-loved-it-almost-hurt break-through “Boys and Girls in America,” The Hold Steady’s “Stay Positive” carries the same unsteady swagger of what came before. The thing about it is, “Stay Positive” is more personal, more character-driven than “Boys and Girls” was. And somehow, that makes it feel less genuine.

These are songs that operate under the idea that if we look back at our teenage years — which, according to The Hold Steady, were almost certainly messed up — we’ll find out who we are now. The way “Stay Positive” approaches those stories is darker, and more on the side of gloomy punk than it is on the side of battered, past-the-point-of-caring rockers. The sobriety in these songs contradicts what they were originally about, and that can’t really be rectified with unison backing vocals and overlying organ.

Rating: ★★★