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Straight to Video
Rock Art Rock
The Decemberists
September 19, 2009
Terminal 5, New York, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "The Decemberists played a special one night 'lottery show,' where the songs played were picked at random by a master of ceremonies, played by John Wesley Harding..."
Ra Ra Riot
April 4, 2009
Webster Hall, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "This show was, at the time, the biggest one Ra Ra Riot had sold out as headliners, and it was clear to me after watching it that the band is destined for even bigger and better things..."
Florence and the Machine
October 28, 2009
Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "Florence Welsh and her backing band delighted and mesmerized a sold-out crowd at Bowery in her first official NY headlining show..."
Dirty Projectors
July 19, 2009
Williamsburg Waterfront (Brooklyn, NY)
By Amanda Hatfield "I was skeptical about how well Dirty Projectors' gorgeous, complex vocal harmonies would carry over outdoors, standing under hot sunshine..."
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The Wild, The Innocent, and The Craig Finn Shuffle
Craig Finn is not the new Springsteen. He’s not the new Springsteen anymore than Springsteen was the new Dylan or Dylan was the new Guthrie, for that matter.
Call Finn a direct descendant of E Street. Call him a pop poet, a rock revivalist with three albums worth of street cred. Call the Hold Steady rock ‘n’ roll’s great white hope. But for the love of Pete, do not call Finn the new Springsteen.
Talk about how Springsteen’s broken-dream beaches gave rise to Finn’s Penetration Park; how Finn is Holly the Hoodrat to Springsteen’s Puerto Rican Jane; Charlemagne to his Spanish Johnny.
Discuss how Finn’s characters seek freedom through excess and salvation through religion, while Springsteen’s heroes exist along the dark and desperate highways of our conscience – faint and forgotten, but somehow still bound for hope and glory.
Point out how Springsteen’s protagonists matured in time with their biographer, spiraling out of a decrepit seashore town, settling in the hearts and minds of blue-collar America, while the Hold Steady’s music remains steeped in nostalgia – nostalgia for the drugged-out, beer-addled parties of our youth; nostalgia for the rock stars who documented our passage from adolescence to adulthood, nostalgia for the fleeting dream of being 17 (or even 33) forever.
Reference the large role sense of place plays in both artists’ music, how mundane places like Asbury Park and Minneapolis are transformed into romantic inlets of love, betrayal, escapism and fear.
Write about the fact that the Steady’s songs (as well as their live sets) are quick bursts of sonic energy, punctuated by Finn’s flamboyant onstage presence, that while “How a Resurrection Really Feels” is a brilliant climax to an equally brilliant album (Separation Sunday), it does not exist on the grand scale of early E Street epics like “Jungleland” and “New York City Serenade.”
Make the point that Springsteen was seven albums deep by the time he reached the age Craig Finn is right now; that the record industry in 2007 is worlds removed from what it was when Bruce first auditioned for John Hammond way back in 1972.
But please don’t compromise anything the Hold Steady has accomplished by calling Craig Finn the new Springsteen. It’s the classic shortcut of music critics who aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. It’s also a large part of the reason great rock ‘n’ roll bands go largely unheralded these days in much the same way (and for much the same reason) that the rock journalists who write about them do.
There is no Lester Bangs to saddle-up alongside Lou Reed, no Landau to proclaim the future of rock ‘n’ roll, no William Miller to tell you Russell Hammond isn’t really the golden god he claims to be. There is only a watered-down wasteland of Web logs, anointing bands like the Cold War Kids and the Arcade Fire as the second coming. That type of atmosphere is the bane of great retro acts like the Hold Steady, Marah, and Jesse Malin.
In a 2003 interview, Bruce Springsteen is quoted as saying, “For me the greatest pop music was music of liberation: Bob Marley, Bob
Dylan, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Public Enemy, the Clash, the Sex Pistols. Those were pop groups that liberated an enormous amount of people to be who they are. That connection, I always thought, was the essence of the great bands that I loved – that they did that for people. It was the spirit of popular music that courses through everybody from Woody Guthrie to Hank Williams, the great Robert Johnson, all the way on, you know. I wanted to be a link in that chain. I wanted to just come and do my part as best I could.”
It’s that exact sentiment that brought Bob Dylan to Brooklyn State Hospital in 1961, the same sentiment that prompted Springsteen to hop the gate at Graceland in April of 1976. It’s the spirit of immense possibility that allows one artist to inspire greatness in another; to accept and then pass the torch to the next person in line.
And along with that power comes a knowledge that you can inspire that same type of magic in your audience; that for a couple of hours on a Friday night they can forget about their jobs, or their mortgage, or the broken marriage that threatens to capsize both of those things.
Personally, I’ve only seen a handful of performers who have that type of onstage presence. Springsteen comes to mind, as does Joey Ramone, Dave Bielanko, Eddie Vedder, and of course, Bob Dylan. But a few months back, I stepped out into the cold Asbury night after a blazing 90-minute set by the Hold Steady and remembered what that feeling was like again.
Rock ‘n’ roll has a king, and a prince. It even has a boss. It’s got a godfather, a killer. It even has a walrus. Perhaps Craig Finn can be the dean.
Yeah, that’ll work. Call Craig Finn the Dean of Rock ‘n’ Roll, if you like.
But please, whatever you do, don’t call him the new Springsteen.
Listen: The Hold Steady “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” [at theholdsteady.com]
Watch: Bruce Springsteen “Jungleland” [at youtube.com]
23 Comments
That is
enough, man. I love finding new bands at my age (45) that I can relate
to. These guys are great. Thanks Crawdaddy for coming back and turning
me on to them like you did bands in the 60/70’s
That is
enough, man. I love finding new bands at my age (45) that I can relate
to. These guys are great. Thanks Crawdaddy for coming back and turning
me on to them like you did bands in the 60/70’s
You guys
should check out Lifter Puller (or, LFTR PLLR) if you like The Hold
Steady. It’s Craig and Tad’s (Hold Steady lead guitar) old band. They
played energetic, booze soaked shows for years here in ‘mundane’
Minneapolis. A real underground favorite.
The video
for the live performance of Jungleland gave me CHILLS.
I have seen
Bruce perform 80 times and never saw anything like The Hold Steady.
Their show last weekend in Harrisburg PA blew me away as did their
performace of Atlantic City at the Bruce tribute at Carnegie Hall last
month.
I
don’t know The Hold Steady but I do love The Boss, so I am going to
check them out. Finn has big shoes to fill.
Bob
Hill has it right. Craig Finn is not Bruce Springsteen. He is Craig
Finn. Why can’t that be enough?
Bruce has
inspired an incredible amount of musicians, they all seem to be coming
into the light this year. Foryou
Bruce also
appears on Jesse Malin’s new CD (on “Broken Radio”) and is reportedly a
fan on The Hold Steady’s mst recent CD “Boys and Girls in
America”
Good call
on Marah’s Dave Bielanko. Malin too. There’s nothing retro about them,
though – that’s like tagging a baseball player ‘retro’ because he uses
a wooden bat instead of aluminum. For us diehard fans, though, it’s
wonderful in one way that these world-class talents are not known to a
wider audience, because… for now, at least, we can still get down
front and centre for mind-blowingly great shows in club-sized venues.
Springsteen has, of course, appeared on stage and on record with
Marah… sharing the limelight as well as passing on the torch, I
think.
Great
article, Bob. You’ve inspired me to check out The Hold
Steady.
I just saw em
in detroit and had the exact same feelings as wayne h…well,
almost…you’ve seen bruce 80 times and never saw anything like the
hold steady’s show?? Great, but not bruce…I can’t see them ever
taking that show to an arena or stadium. And you know what? That’s fine
with me.
Nothing wrong
with being inspired by Springsteen. But Finn creates a whole different
community of characters and places, puts on a different live show, and
probably has a different fan base. Both great. No problem with multiple
greats, right?
All
Hail the Hold Steady. They’re great. But no need to rag on the Arcade
Fire, Mr. Hill. They’re the best, most vital band to come around in a
long, long time. And they probably draw as much on Springsteen as Craig
Finn does.
This article
is great Bob! I plan on checking them out now.
Bob, your
article gave me goosebumps! You documented the nostalgia that is such a
large part of Craig’s lyrical genius, perfectly! I’ve been advocating
for THS since “Almost Killed Me.” Do I thoroughly enjoy the
‘indie-pop-rock’ of Arcade Fire and CWK? Of course, but THS is pure,
unadulterated, boot-stompin, ass-kickin, beer-chuggin Rock N Roll! All,
hail The Hold Steady
I’ve been
lucky enough to see pretty much all of the bands referenced in this
article (except for The Hold Steady but I’m putting that right on June
2nd at Shepherd’s Bush). I totally agree with Mr Hill that performers
that make you feel like you witnessed an event are few and far between.
I can’t believe that Marah aren’t a much bigger band than they are as
their live show is awe inspiring. Just hope that the live show is
enough to sustain The Hold Steady in the MP3/MTV here today gone
tomorrow 21st Century. Great article by the way
Great! Crawdaddy, one of 2 great no nonsense mags back in the 60’s (along with Boy Howdy’s Creem) champions a clever boy with limited range emotionally, lyrically and musically, as (almost) the NEXT BIG THING. The worst song on “Other People’s Lives” is better than anything the Hold Steady have yet to create. When they pull the roof off the sucka like Sir Ray, then write the glowing review. Until then, “I’ll take Rembrant, Titian, DaVinci and Gainesborough”! (RDD)
All this hype over Springsteen comparisons when this guy is obviously an Elvis Costello clone.
he’s a poop poet, even the Asbury Jukes make him look bad…
their recent show was chilling and a real wake up……
so much has changed in the Finn…..maturity and angle
what is so unique about icons is there is a strong love/ hate relationship…..
if people can’t help but love you ~then people can’t help but dislike you………
I guarantee you will see something one of a kind…..like a bearded woman in the freak show…….only better
there is no competition~only influence…….
you would have to be dead to not have influence……or be a complete shut in……..
I say in with Finn
xx
a rather redundant and contradictory piece of writing, really.
classic straw man: “dont go comparing this guy to springsteen,” you say, then spend an entire article comparing him to springsteen. thats pretty tired.
the most demeaning thing you can do for a rock band is call them “retro.” agh–what a casual slander. way to backhand an entire article.
Well I think you missed something that makes the two two verry different artists and performers, but maybe it’s because you’re a guy : the huge sexual aura Bruce has, and the Craig Finn hasn’t.
Springsteen’sex appeal and sexyness isn’t the obvious hip moving type (mick Jagger type) but it is a strong one, and he kinda knows it