The Hold Steady 'Boys and Girls in America' (special edition)

The first time I listened to 'Boys and Girls in America' I had bought it on the back of a good review and played it once, decided it was "ok but a bit too Americana" and put it on the pile of cds to sell on ebay. Ten months later, my house has three copies of the album, two copies each of 'Separation Sunday' and 'Almost Killed Me' and two t shirts purchased at what I consider to be my favourite gig of all time. How did all this happen?

I have The Guardian's Laura Barton to thank. Reading her 'Hail Hail Rock n Roll' column one Friday, I liked a verse she quoted from a Hold Steady song and decided to revisit the album. I put it on that evening while we were doing the washing up and the rest is you know what.

If you let The Hold Steady into your life, you have to be aware there is a good chance you will fall for them in a big way. This has happened to me. I started to get to know the songs on BaGiA. The anthems made the biggest impression to start with. 'Chips Ahoy' is a fun song about a girl who can predict which horse is going to finish first, it has a great chorus and you will find yourself singing it walking round the house. 'Chillout Tent' is 'Summer Nights' re-written for the 21st Century and 'Party Pit' with it's "Gonna walk around and drink some more" hook may as well have been named 'The Ballad of the Hold Steady'. This is a record you can get to know really quickly.

Its the third Hold Steady album and singer Craig Finn wrote the words so that all the songs would fit under the banner of the Kerouac quote "Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together". His literate storytelling sits on top of some anthems and big ballads in the style of the E Street Band or The Replacements. This is good, old fashioned celebratory rock and there is nothing wrong with that. Finn makes it special. He is a ball of nervous energy, repeating lines from other songs and giving his all to the record, its a wonderful vocal performance.

There are so many highlights, possibly the two standout tracks are 'Stuck Between Stations' a tribute to John Berryman and 'First Night' where Holly, Charlemagne and Gideon (characters from the previous two Hold Steady records) suffer the comedown of the morning after the night before, Franz Nicolay's keyboard sound making this song particularly magical.

I enjoy listening to this record so much, in many ways it is pure escapism. I sing along with every song and there are numerous verses and lines that make me smile every single time. You have to be aware that The Hold Steady will do this to you, you'll start quoting lyrics at people, playing songs to people who have already said they're not keen, you will start to simply refuse to believe that not everyone believes they are the greatest band in the World.

So, if you don't own this album yet, I can't recommend it any more highly. Just be prepared for the possibility that you probably won't want to listen to any other music for the next few months. Then you'll buy the first two albums and find they are equally as good.

If you already own this album, do you need to buy the special edition? My advice is that if you're a Hold Steady fan, you need to get this. The bonus disc is a live acoustic cd and features two previously unavailable songs 'Modesto's Not That Sweet' and 'You've Gotta Dance...', but it also features some stellar recordings of Hold Steady classics. 'First Night' sounds great here and 'Cattle and The Creeping Things' is thrilling.

The only thing left to wonder is where The Hold Steady go from here. The news that they have demoed enough tracks for a new album and are already playing some of these songs live is very welcome indeed. For now we should raise a glass to the album of the year.

9.8

Laura Barton, who I think I have yet to disagree with, writes in today's Guardian about how note perfect warbling of the type we hear on X Factor and Mariah and Whitney records rarely actually conveys any emotion at all despite the vocal histrionics. It is all about false emotion and this is what makes X Factor an essentially pointless exercise.

Emotion in music rarely goes hand in hand with note perfect singing. This got me thinking about some of the vocal performances that always stick in my mind but wouldn't get the singer past the audition stage in the X Factor:

If you have never heard Mark Eitzel's 'Songs of Love' album, you are missing something truly special. A recording of a gig at London's Borderline in 1991, when Mark sang some songs accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, the album is pure emotion from start to finish. Listen to him singing 'Western Sky' close to tears and at one point having to stop himself mid-song to compose himself

"Please be happy baby
and please don't cry
Even though the parade has passed us by
you can still see it shining
shining in a Western sky"

Its an incredible performance.

I also love the way Craig Finn sings 'Cattle and the Creeping things', particularly this verse

"she's got a cross around her neck that she ripped off from a schoolgirl in the subway on a visit to the city
she likes how it looks on her chest with three open buttons
she likes the part where one brother kills the other
she has to wonder if the the world ever will recover
because cain and abel seem to still be causing trouble."

I don't know why I love the way he sings this song so much. He sings it the same way he sings all the Hold Steady songs, as kind of a shouty war correspondent reporting from the front line. Its just when I hear him sing that verse, I always want to hear it again straight away.

I also love hearing 'What a Life' by Juliana Hatfield because I really like the way she coughs right at the start of the song.

Anyway, I think Laura is right. There are lots of funny and strange reasons why you might like certain vocals or even just the way someone sings a certain syllable. But they very rarely have anything to do with hearing a pitch perfect singing note. Unless you are Simon Cowell.