The Hold Steady - HeavenIs Whenever

Thu 20th May, 2010 in Music Reviews

Listening to Heaven Is Whenever does not fill me with passion like the previous four Hold Steady records. Of course there are some minor changes within the production (a bit lacking in depth), Craig Finn appears to be trying to sing more instead of spitting and repeating his lyrics with passion and of course Franz Nicolay left the band in February of this year. The line up has changed and that may be a key. Let’s listen some more.

Certainly some of the characters from former songs still haunt the lyrics. Craig is still writing about struggle, religion and being saved. Whether it is finding a saviour in rock and roll because “heaven is whenever we can get together and sit down on your floor and listen to your records” or as he puts it taking a pre-emptive strike on redemption by going to church on Saturday night, Mr. Finn is still singing about the same urban/suburban catholic life that inhabits his soul. We have entered his world once again.

What seems to seep through after a few listens is that the music is harder edged because of the lack of keyboards. There is less space for that playing and the record does bang out of the speakers a bit more. Maybe this is the reason Finn is singing instead of grabbing you by the neck and yelling in your face that life is right around the corner waiting in the deli right next to the beef jerky.

The faithful will enjoy this record. You might feel a slight discomfort, as Mr. Finn says in the closing track, that this is not as great as Stay Positive or the classic Separation Sunday. The poetry is still there but the fire and brimstone of the music just does not seem to bring anything flash to the party.