Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."
The Suicide Commandos are an American punk rock trio from Minneapolis. They formed in 1975 and released two 7-inch EPs on an indie label in 1976 and 1977 before signing with Blank Records in 1977 and releasing one album, Make a Record. Despite their short original 4-year stint together, the Suicide Commandos are considered the pioneers for jump-starting a punk rock music scene in the Twin Cities, which eventually produced bands like The Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and Soul Asylum.
Crimson is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alkaline Trio. Produced by Jerry Finn, it was released on May 24, 2005, by Vagrant.
The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn, Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (guitar). Noted for their "lyrically dense storytelling," and classic rock influences, the band's narrative-based songs frequently address themes such as drug addiction, religion and redemption, and often feature recurring characters based within the city of Minneapolis.
Lifter Puller, or LFTR PLLR, was an American indie rock band from the Twin Cities and the Boston area between 1994 and 2000. Their music is considered innovative, with its angular riffs and a synth-infused sound that predated the '80s revival fads of the early 2000s. Arguably, however, the band is most known for frontman Craig Finn's elaborate lyrics, which often relied upon an established universe of drug-addled college students, cash-strapped nightclub proprietors, murdered ravers and other nostalgic excursions in Minneapolis and Boston.
Franz Nicolay is an American musician and writer. He is best known for playing the accordion and piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2016 onwards. He is also notable for founding Anti-Social Music, a composer/performer collective based in New York City, and for performing in the Balkan jazz quartet Guignol.
Almost Killed Me is the debut studio album by Brooklyn-based rock band the Hold Steady, released on March 16, 2004 on Frenchkiss Records. It is considered by many to be a concept album, with several recurring themes such as near-death experiences, parties and the fictional character Charlemagne. Its concept album roots are further explored with the recurring characters in Separation Sunday, the Hold Steady's second album, which uses the same characters introduced in Almost Killed Me. Almost Killed Me was ranked number 99 on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the Decade.
Boys and Girls in America is the third studio album by the Hold Steady, released on October 3, 2006, by Vagrant Records.
Craig Finn is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the frontman of the American indie rock band The Hold Steady, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Prior to forming The Hold Steady, Finn was the frontman of Lifter Puller.
Build & Burn is the second album by American punk rock band The Loved Ones. It was released on February 5, 2008 through Fat Wreck Chords. The album was produced by Pete Steinkopf and Bryan Keinlen from The Bouncing Souls and features cameos from The Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay and Tad Kubler. A music video was released for the song "The Bridge".
Stay Positive is the fourth studio album by The Hold Steady, released on July 15, 2008, through Vagrant Records. Vocalist/guitarist Craig Finn notes that the album is about "the idea of ageing gracefully [...] keeping going, perseverance [and] how to stay true to the ideals and ideas you had when you were younger." Keyboard player Franz Nicolay notes that the album is his favorite, stating that it features an "integrated, nuanced, less hectic distillation of [their earlier] sound." Stay Positive was the last studio album to feature Nicolay until 2019's Thrashing Thru the Passion, who departed from the band in early 2010 but returned in 2016.
Fair Ain't Fair is Tim Fite's second studio album released on ANTI- Records. As with Gone Ain't Gone, Fite created this album with a mixture of real instrumentation and sampling, resulting in a sound composed of rock, folk and hip hop elements.
The Virgin Digital Sessions was an internet-only EP release from the Hold Steady in early 2005. Versions of the album were distributed in the MP3 format by Amazon.com and SpiralFrog, among other online retailers. Alternate mixes of the first three tracks subsequently appeared in the Separation Sunday LP, with the notable exception of "212 Margarita".
A Positive Rage is a live album and documentary double-disc set by the Brooklyn-based rock band The Hold Steady, released on April 7, 2009 by Vagrant Records. The documentary DVD features backstage interviews, fan commentary and live footage, while the CD features a live set performed on Halloween 2007 at the Metro Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, made up of songs from the band's albums Almost Killed Me (2004), Separation Sunday (2005), Boys and Girls in America (2006), and the then-forthcoming Stay Positive (2008), as well as three tracks previously only released as bonus tracks on these albums. The enhanced CD also includes a link to download five bonus tracks.
Heaven Is Whenever is the fifth studio album by the Hold Steady. It was released May 4, 2010, on Vagrant Records in the U.S. and May 3, 2010, on Rough Trade in Europe. The album's first single, "Hurricane J", premiered on Pitchfork Media on March 22, 2010. Regarding the album's lyrical content, vocalist and guitarist Craig Finn states that: "I kept saying Stay Positive was a record about trying to age gracefully. This record, I think actually was us aging gracefully. Some of the lyrics come from a place of a little more wisdom, being 38 and at this point having a lifetime in rock'n'roll."
Full Time Hobby is an independent record label formed in London in January 2004. Since its inception it has released records by artists such as Dana Gavanski, Timber Timbre, Tunng, Micah P. Hinson, Michael Nau, Katie Von Schleicher and White Denim.
Teeth Dreams is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band the Hold Steady, released March 25, 2014 on Washington Square/Razor & Tie. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz, the album is the first to feature guitarist Steve Selvidge, who joined the band in 2010 to tour in support of the band's previous album, Heaven Is Whenever (2010).
Thrashing Thru the Passion is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band the Hold Steady, released on August 16, 2019, on Frenchkiss Records. Produced by Josh Kaufman, the album sees the return to the line-up of keyboardist Franz Nicolay, who had left the group after 2008's Stay Positive.
"Heavy Covenant" is a song by American indie rock band the Hold Steady. It was released on January 8, 2021, as the second single from their upcoming eighth studio album, Open Door Policy by Positive Jams and Thirty Tigers. The song was written by Craig Finn and Franz Nicolay, with Josh Kaufman handling production.
The Price of Progress is a 2023 studio album by American indie rock band The Hold Steady. It has received positive reviews from critics.
