While many recent indie rock bands have looked back to the
’80s for inspiration, the music of The Hold Steady reaches
back further, to the classic rock era.
The band will perform Friday alongside The Constantines and The
Cops at a free student-only show. Organized by the Campus Events
Commission, the show will run from 7 to 11 p.m. at Bradley
International Hall, located across from Dykstra Hall.
On tour for a large part of the month with The Constantines, who
just released the album “Tournament of Hearts,” the
pairing of The Constantine’s arty punk with the band’s
classic rock anthems will lend itself to an energizing show.
“We’re just getting into the real swing of the
tour,” said vocalist Craig Finn. “I’ve been doing
this long enough to where I can do what I can to avoid
fatigue.”
Soon after the dissolution of their previous venture, Boston
punk band Lifter-Puller, vocalist Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler
formed The Hold Steady in 2000.
The band incorporated favorite classic rock albums into
“Separation Sunday,” a successful sophomore album
released in May 2005.
“In general, we did a lot more work on this record,”
Kubler said. “The first record we wrote really quickly and
recorded in six days. It was pretty straightforward. With
“˜Separation Sunday,’ we had more of a direction and a
lot more time. We recorded in the course of four or five weeks. It
was a lot more deliberate, more thought-out.”
“Separation Sunday” is a more self-aware effort that
lends itself to a darker, more emotionally complex work than the
band’s debut, “Almost Killed Me.” Taking on a
storybook form loaded with Biblical metaphors, Finn’s writing
style is reminiscent of that of Bob Dylan and Bruce
Springsteen.
“(“˜Separation Sunday’) was very much just
dealing with the thought of religion in people’s
lives,” Finn said. “I can see how people use it as a
crutch or something, much like using a substance, or alcohol and
drugs. The story talks a lot about that. It is darker, I guess
(than “˜Almost Killed Me’), but I also think maybe in
some aspects it’s a lot brighter too.”
A former Boston College student and self-proclaimed avid reader,
Finn’s lyrics are derived not only from fellow songwriters,
but are heavily drawn from literature by writer Thomas Pynchon and
Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac.
“The key line in this album for me would be, “˜Youth
services always find a way to get their bloody cross into your
druggy little messed-up teenage life,'” Finn said.
With bands such as Wolf Parade and Death Cab For Cutie grabbing
headlines, being labeled an indie band nowadays can put a group
into a tight box of expectations. The Hold Steady has no qualms
about the definition, though its tastes run to older, lyrical
inspirations.
“Of course we’re indie. We run on an independent
label,” Finn said. “But I think we implement classic
rock a lot more than other indie rock bands. … I would describe
us as a smart rock band. I’m working really hard on lyrics
for the next record. I don’t know if it’ll be much of a
concept record or storyline next time, but there is always (an)
overall feeling.”