Ruminations on The Hold Steady

So yah, one thing about me is that i'm some terrible music obsessive. Because of that fact last year (and this year so far) was kind of depressing because, honestly, barely anything worth listening to came out. Or at least that's what i thought.

You see the last couple of weeks i've become obsessed with a particular album. That album is The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America. Yes, I heard about it last year, but i really didn't pay much attention to it because i really didn't like the Hold Steady that much. Of course, based the raving critics i gave it a chance, but as is usual was probably distracted, or watching TV or cursing those damn Lakers or something because i didn't really listen to it again. That is until maybe two weeks ago when i started listening to it obsessively.

So yah, I guess it's common knowledge, (or should be at least) that the Hold Steady rock. The only problem I had with the album, (and in retrospect probably the reason I didn't purchase a physical copy of the CD until last week), is that the freaking cover are is so bloody, unspeakably ugly!!! If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. The "art" is ridiculous, it looks like one of Raffi's rejected album covers made up by some guy who was high on confetti drugs or something (perhaps explaining the strange excess of confetti plastered on the cover). The Hold Steady should be one of those CD's that you can proudly display and be like, BOO-YAH, brother, or sister, look how awesome this CD is, it has skulls and crossbones and flaming skulls and eerie landscape pictures of barren barns and wheat farms or something. But no, all the Hold Steady's "colorful" album art provides me is a quizzical look that seems to say, "so that's why your pants are so tight"-even though i don't wear tight pants. So yah, that kind of sucks obviously.

So my shortened point, is, curse you Hold Steady, I expect this out of The Polyphonic Spree but not you!!!!

Oh, and I really want to see them live in San Diego, that would be awesomer then awesome.