Craig Finn is one of the most literary songwriters out there. His songs, both with band The Hold Steady, and on his increasingly superior solo output, are like classic short stories... so it's unsurprising that he names Raymond Carver and Jack Kerouac as primary influences.
His writing is often compared to the storytelling style of Bruce Springsteen, particularly Born To Run era Springsteen. Songs like Meeting Across The River and Jungleland feel like templates for Craig Finn's entire career.
The most direct admission of Finn's Springsteen influence comes in a song from his first band, Lifter Puller. As is often the case with first bands, Lifter Puller were a lot more rough and ready than The Hold Steady, and you certainly wouldn't have predicted their lead singer to go on and create solo work as thoughtful and mellow as Finn's latest album, Always Been. But it's Lifter Puller who did the full-on Springsteen sequel. Here's the original...
Tear drops on the city, Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Seem like the whole world walking pretty and you can't find the room to move
Well, everybody better move over, that's all
'Cause I'm running on the bad side and I got my back to the wall
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And here's the sequel...
Virginia slept with the sketchy chick
She was sick, they still clicked
Rhode Island slide with the skinny guy
Pawtucket pawnshops and Newport Lights
Made amends with your dealer friends
The truth is in the camera lens
So don't come home
With a stick in your nose
I hired a detective
He's got a tiny camera
It's not as catchy, but catchiness wasn't really the point of Lifter Puller.
Of course, it's way too early to start talking Album of the Year predictions, and considering how well his solo LPs have done in my countdown over the past decade or so, this is probably an obvious call... but... damn if that new Craig Finn album isn't excellent work.
The news that Craig had drafted in Adam Granduciel of The War On Drugs for production duties didn't exactly light a fire under me, since I'm generally underwhelmed by TWOD's output. But when I think about it, I do often like the sound that band makes... it's just the songs themselves don't seem to say very much. Craig Finn, on the other hand, is a master of making every word count, so his superb storytelling lyrics set to the 70s/80s Laurel Canyon sound Granduciel specialises in is the perfect combination.
Talking up his latest record, Finn name-drops Randy Newman, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon (also John Prine, who doesn't musically with the others, but lyrically... yeah), so I'm in hog heaven here.
Attention, anyone thinking of releasing any new music that might be of interest to me for the rest of this year: the bar's been set pretty high now, guys. Go big or go home.
On Friday after finishing work, I drove into Leeds to see Craig Finn at a new venue called The Wardrobe. I went on my own because Ben was on holiday - otherwise he'd have been there like a shot, because Finn and his band The Hold Steady are one of the few musical artists we're in 100% agreement on.
As I finish work at 3.30 on Friday, I wasted an hour or so driving round charity shops on the outskirts of Leeds until the evening parking rate kicked in. Came away empty handed - city-adjacent charity shops rarely have anything interesting to offer. I had a couple of hours to kill in Leeds, so spent as long as I could reading my book over decaf and a toasted sandwich in Cafe Nero, then loitered until the venue opened at 7.30. I was one of the first to arrive, but the lighting wasn't good enough to read my book in there, so I found a good spot and hung around like a spare part till the support came on a 8.15.
Scott Lavene has appeared on this blog previously, and I think John Medd might also be a fan. He's an artist who appears to have heard Billy Bragg's version of Walk Away, Renee and decided to build an entire act based upon it.
Lavene walks that controversial tightrope between troubadour and stand up, but the audience warmed to him quickly and his closing tune might even have brought a tear to the less-cynical eyes... though Scott was quick to point out that the emotional hook, “I chose amphetamines over you”, was available on T-shirts at the merch stand.
And then came the main event, all the way from New York City (originally Minneapolis).
Why are The Hold Steady one of my favourite post-20th Century bands?
The simple answer to that is the same one I'd give for most of my favourite artists. Craig Finn is a great songwriter. Even better, he's a great storyteller. So whether his band is influenced by Hüsker Dü or the Replacements, Cheap Trick or the Minutemen, Finn's lyrics follow a line from Dylan to Zevon to Springsteen. That's a great combination when they're all together...
...but I've grown to love Finn's solo work even more. This latest series of shows was billed as "Songs & Stories", just Finn and his guitar (a $30 acoustic that, he tells us, was given to him by a bandmate... although when he wanted to take it on tour, he had to get it fitted with a $500 pickup).
Anyway, we got a lot of stories behind the songs on Friday night, including the revelation that the one above dates back to 2001, before Craig started his band, when he was just a New York City office worker. On September 11th, when the first plane went into the Twin Towers, his boss invited him to cut work for the morning, go up on the roof of his apartment, and watch the devastation as it unfolded. They ended up guiltily drinking beer... perhaps not the most appropriate thing to do while so many people were dying... but it says a lot about the utter unreality of that day. (Finn goes on to confess that the fall-out of 9/11 was years of drug and alcohol addiction, before he finally got himself straight.)
The highlight of the show, ironically given what I said above, was the sole Hold Steady song, Magazines. It was the story Craig told to set it up and give it context that made it so special. He explained he'd written the song the morning after being dumped by the love of his life... which might explain why "it's not a very nice song. A great song - but not very nice." After writing it though, he got a phone call from the woman in question, saying maybe she'd been a little hasty... maybe they should talk...
For as long as I've had a blog, I've filled most of December with a year end countdown of my favourite albums (and on my old blog, I used to do films, books, TV shows and comics too).
Since 2018, I've been doing a list as long as the final number in the year - 18 for 2018, 19 for 2019... last year, it was my Top 22 of 2022, but I think it's fair to say that the top four at least were all better records than anything I've heard this year.
That's not to say it's been a bad year for music. A lot of my favourite artists have put out new discs (or, in Kevin Morby's case, not bothered to put them on a disc at all, just plonked them on the interweb), but none of those records felt like they came from performers at the very top of their game. Unlike the ones I selected by Half Man Half Biscuit, Frank Turner, Craig Finn and American Aquarium this time last year.
I'm also frustrated by the fact that December is never the best time to decide your favourite albums of the past year, since you're still listening to half of them and haven't even heard a bunch more. A good example of this is that I just managed to squeeze the most recent First Aid Kit album into my Top Ten last year after only a few listens. I then continued to listen to it well into the summer, by which time my appreciation had rocketed - it's equally as good as any of the records mentioned above.
Anyway, the way I feel right now is that there's been a lot of great songs this year, but not as many great collections of songs. (This opinion may well have changed by next March.) Many of the old faithfuls delivered, but didn't quite scale previous heights. That doesn't bother me - I'm not one of those people who expects every record to be better than the last one. But I just didn't think I could subject you all to 23 reviews of 23 albums I liked, but didn't quite love. I managed to cobble together a Top Ten, just like in the old days (sometimes I have to remind myself what this blog is called), but the rest of the time between now and the end of the year, I'm just going so share some of my favourite songs. Like this one...
Spanish Love Songs - Lifers
Spanish Love Songs are one of those cool hipster bands that Ben likes and he's gradually been persuading me to do the same. I was particularly impressed with their song The Boy Considers His Hair Cut, which I featured on a Self-Loathing Friday just over a year ago. And their new album, No Joy... well, that's clearly a no-brainer. They remind me a little bit of Ezra Furman doing their best attempt at Springsteen, or (don't tell Ben) The Killers back when they were cool. And then the write lyrics like these...
It's the notion that your body is never gonna change
The baby fat that's hiding in your cheeks won't fade
And you're not sure why, but when you leave the house you circle the block to cry
And these...
So do you think that we'll outrun it?
Get past the pain of simply being?
Every time you want out of your body
Or can't get your head around this dream
You swore you loved it more
When you couldn't guess the end
It's never adding up
But don't write yourself out of the equation
Is 51 a good time to turn Emo?
Meanwhile, as I mentioned First Aid Kit above, I might as well throw this in to close today, a song in which they help out one of their recent tour-mates on backing vocals. Lola Kirke is a singer and actress (quite successful, it appears, though I can't claim to have seen anything she's been in). Born in London, raised in New York, yet she makes sparkly Americana that verges on good old fashioned Country & Western. George Strait, I'm sure, would approve of the song title below. Judging from the video though, Lola is probably spending time in Alcatraz for indecent exposure. Hopefully she'll be back out soon...
Lola Kirke feat. First Aid Kit - All My Exes Live In LA
List of bands where if a person said they were their favourite you'd be suspicious of them.
Examples...
If someone said Simply Red were their favourite band, you'd think that they just hadn't really listened to much music.
They're a good band.
But even their Greatest Hits has some filler on there and compared to other bands they have limited deep cuts.
Also... Creed.
Chas and Dave.
Fine Young Cannibals.
The Breeders.
Wang Chung?
First, Simply Red are awful.
And Mick Hucknall is a tool.
Second, this reminds me of the I Just Called To Say I Love You bit in High Fidelity.
If someone told me Chas & Dave were their favourite band, I'd just think they must be a Cockney.
And at least they haven't fallen for Damon Albarn's sham.
I got a free ticket to see The Good The Bad and The Queen a number of years ago. Second most boring concert I've been to. And it would have been the most boring for most people but the most boring was a niche one. Second time seeing Godspeed! You Black Emperor. The first time is interesting and a novelty but it's a one and done thing.
In the list of Damon Albarn's crimes, being dull and sanctimonious for the last 20 years ranks much higher than 5 years of pretending to be a Cockney scamp, guvnor
Would you trust someone to babysit Sam if they said Think Tank was their favourite Blur album?
I wouldn't even let them in my house.
Louise's old boss loved Hue & Cry. He got them to play live at his 50th. Apparently they hate each other and argued the whole time.
Other than Ordinary Angel and Looking for Linda, what else have they got, really?
You forgot their big hit!
Ben sends a photograph of his newly-mowed lawn.
Now I feel like drinking a beer in the middle of the week and watching football.
Why are you mowing grass that hasn't yet started growing?
It was knee height.
To a grasshopper.
Shut up
Am man now.
Drink Carling.
Tell Mrs. Ben there be trouble if tea not ready.
Watch futkik.
Get mad when Team A beat Team B.
I think you're more middle aged than macho man.
Am man!
Listen to Oasis.
And Kaiser Chiefs.
Give you a thump.
Finally get Mrs Brown's Boys.
Is funny coz man in dress.
Is this the first time you've ever experienced manual labour?
I used to be quite literally a site labourer.
And I'm using my ex-workmates as influence for this character.
Or...
Shurrup, soft lad.
One time back when I worked in radio, a colleague of mine had driven to work in really bad snow and basically dumped his car in a snow drift outside the building. Later that night we looked out to see if it was still snowing, and there was some random bloke sat in his car. We went out to ask him what the hell he was doing, and he said:
"I was cold. And I don't work in a fancy radio station like you guys. I'm a manual labourer. Look at my manual labourer's hands! Look, I've got calluses and everything!"
That sounds genuinely terrifying.
It was. But also kind of surreal. In the end, he just buggered off.
Are you sure he hadn't escaped from the local psych ward?
It was Bradford. Most people in Bradford have escaped from some kind of institution, or are on their way into one.
This is it, then. A pretty shitty year, all told, both on the world stage and closer to home. Still, we must press on and concentrate on the things that do still bring us joy. For me, that's my boy, a constant source of fun, pride and love. And music... always there, always something to cling onto in the wreckage. Here's the best of this year's offerings, in my humble opinion, with no obvious surprise at the top...
4. Craig Finn - I Need A New War
The Hold Steady released their first album in five years, Thrashing Thru The Passion, and a fine record it was too. However, their frontman appears to have transcended the trappings of his own band, and his solo albums continue to rise into another league altogether. I Need Another War was another great example of why Craig Finn is probably the best short story writer in contemporary rock. The Raymond Carver comparison still holds true.
When they swept up all the empties the parties always seemed like such a waste
3. Jenny Lewis - On The Line
Having said all that about Craig Finn, here's someone who can actually challenge him to that short story crown... and in this case, I guess she takes the prize. Another artist who has transcended her former band (the excellent Rilo Kiley) and continues to develop in new and exciting directions. She's more musical than Craig - shades of Tom Petty, Aimee Mann and even the Shangri-Las on this record - which is why she places one step higher. But it was a close call.
I had tickets to see Jenny Lewis this summer - my only gig of the year. Then I ended up having to move house and missed the gig. Dag-nabbit.
2. Lukas Nelson - Turn Off The News And Build A Garden
Song of the year right here. The rest of the album was pretty bloody amazing too, showing a diversity of styles most country / Americana artists would struggle to display. All those years gigging with Neil Young, and his dad, have obviously paid off for Willie's boy. There's even a bit of Jeff Lynne in this record. Stylish and poppy - a difficult trick to pull off these days.
My Top Three Bruce Springsteen Albums are, in ever-changing order: Born To Run, Nebraska and Tunnel of Love. Who's have thought that thirty-plus years after the most recent of those, he'd have delivered a challenger for the coveted Number Four position? But if you're gonna go draw new water from the well, choosing a well in Jimmy Webb's backyard is a masterstroke...
Top Track: Are you kidding me? I could sit here all night trying to work that one out. Here's this week's favourite...
Happy New Year, everyone. I'd like to hope 2020 will be better than 2019, but I've reached the age where I realise that's pretty unlikely. Still, humanity may yet prove me wrong.
Thank you to the good people who read this blog, who keep me company in the darkness. Your visits are always much appreciated. Be well.
A week or so ago, Craig Finn announced the imminent release of a new album by his old band, The Hold Steady. This comes hot on the heels of his fourth solo album, I Need A New War, which is already shaping up to be one of my albums of the year.
Much as I love The Hold Steady, I'm starting to think Craig Finn's solo albums are getting even better. His storytelling is definitely hitting a purple patch - miniature Raymond Carver-esque vignettes in every song. Plus he's experimenting with what music critics might call "sonic diversity" - that is, throwing in a few different instruments and varying the genre at times.
Here's a terrific live performance of one of the stand-out tracks...
The movie Bohemian Rhapsody has received mixed reviews from the critics - but then, so did the song it was based on. It is a film made by fans for fans, and as such it was a success for me. Yes, there are some creaky bits where you can sense the hand of messrs. May & Taylor bigging themselves up as script editors, and the Mike Myers cameo belongs in a different movie. A very bad am-dram movie. But put these aside, and this is a film Queen fans will cheer - not just for Remi Malik's star-making turn as Freddie, but for the note-perfect performances of the other band members too - Brian "nice but dull" May, Roger "cocky knob" Taylor and John "quietly witty" Deakin. I believed every one of them was the band member they played, and I was a bit of a Queen aficionado in my teenage years.
There'd been criticism of the film beforehand for glossing over the more sordid elements of Freddie's life, so I was surprised to find it pulled few punches. Yes, it could have been more graphic and sleazy, but I thought the filmmakers chose the right tone - hinting at such debauchery without needing to splash it all over. The final scene, at Live Aid, gave the film its musical climax, but it was the scene prior to that (Mercury visiting his parents and introducing them to his new "friend", while his dad quietly came to terms with everything that his son was) which broke me. It made me realise why I always connected with Freddie as a teenager - the outrageous glamour was just a cover for his loneliness, and we connected with that. Anybody who's ever cried while listening to Queen's finest moment will know that Freddie understood. That was the message I took away from the film, the tragedy of Freddie... he wasn't looking for fame and glamour and excess, all he really wanted was a family and a "friend". Don't we all?
I wouldn't recommend Bohemian Rhapsody to non-Queen fans. It won't convert you, it'll probably just annoy you even more. But for the fans... it was everything we needed.
Here's ten songs by ten fans... well, nine fans and one who's not quite sure.
The song Elton wrote after hearing Freddie had died. Typical late-stage Elton, so there could have been a much better tribute, but at least it's from the heart.
Interesting one this. Songwriter Reece Toper wrote it about his own ignorance and bigotry as a teenager, a Queen fan who "turned his back on Freddie Mercury" when he found out he was gay and had died of AIDS. I imagine quite a lot of serious Queen fans did the same. At least this guy wised up when he was older.
This'll be one that will irk the musos, I know the comments I got the last time I featured Train here... so their rip-off of We Didn't Start The Fire will probably go down like a lead balloon! Like that's gonna stop me...
Over the years, there have been many imitators wanting to grab a seat on Freddie's throne and Mika looked to be giving it a good try with this single... but he really didn't have the legs.
But on the day I die, I'll say at least I fucking tried.
That's the only eulogy I need.
1. Freddie Mercury - Mr. Bad Guy
Much is made in the film of Freddie's foolhardy attempt at a solo career, and his return to Queen, tail between his legs because the new musicians he was working with "did exactly what I told them" rather than pushing back against him, that friction being said to have created better art. Whether that's another example of May & Taylor having a little too much input into the script or not, it's fair to say that Mr. Bad Guy, his first solo album for CBS, wasn't a classic, although it did have its moments - notably the single I Was Born To Love You and this, the title track in which Freddie gives Morrissey a run for his money in the self-pity stakes...
I'm Mr Bad Guy
Yes I'm everybody's Mr Bad Guy
Can't you see I'm Mr Mercury
Oh spread your wings and fly away with me
I'm Mr Bad Guy
They're all afraid of me
I can ruin people's lives
Mr. Bad Guy they're all afraid of me
It's the only way to be
That's my destiny
Mr. Bad Guy
Oh, and just to Brian doesn't feel left out... here's a song about him:
I gave up trying to explain why I was never a Gerry Anderson fan years ago (even as a young boy, I couldn't suspend my disbelief that they were just puppets) because too often I saw the tears or rage or regret welling up in the eyes of those for whom Anderson was a god. I get that: if someone tries to tell me why they never liked Spider-Man, I'd probably react in the same way.
I'm not sure I can get my head around your love for the Joe 90 theme tune either. Other Anderson shows had far better tunes, surely? Thunderbirds? Stingray? Even Captain Scarlet's "This is the voice of the Mysterons" - that still manages to send a chill down my spine, even though the show itself left me cold.
One thing I do like is that back then, TV shows had proper intros. That's 3 and half minutes before the show even starts! No way would that be allowed in today's attention-span-deficit TV culture. I miss that slower pace.
Martin started the bidding with a very strong contender, Taking the title from one of Wham!'s greatest hits and updating it to show what Freedom meant to him now that he was a solo artist, this is an excellent demonstration of the way George matured as a songwriter. Yes, it's a year song, but the 90 meant much more than just "this is when I'm releasing this track".
1. Bow Wow Wow - C30 C60 C90 Go!
Congratulations to C for stealing the points for this one. And no, this won't pop up again at Numbers 60 and 30, because the rule book says no song can appear more than once... and because C90 was by far my cassette of choice. The mix-tape maker's dream!
Which brings us to 89. I think there's pretty much only one choice, but your suggestions are welcome...
Well, the gangsters drove Preludes and sold this one weed called White Tiger Wirth Park had a body The holiday guy couldn't make change The parking lot scene still existed, but not without problems I came back to St. Paul and things had progressed and got strange
I got stuck in a snowbank I was too drunk to drive to Edina Right there is proof of my faith that God watches us And the North Stars went south And my friends all went out to Seattle I stuck around town Hit the bars then wait for the bus
Someone told me a story the other day about why The Hold Steady weren't releasing new albums at the moment, and why Craig Finn was solo. It sounded plausible enough: it actually sounded like the plot of one of Finn's own mini-widescreen indie movies set to song. I don't know if it was true so I'm not repeating it here. It doesn't matter, the solo albums are pretty damned brilliant. Much better than the last Hold Steady album, as it goes. Finn is a born storyteller, and nowhere is that more evident than on this cut from his brand new record, We All Want The Same Thing. It's kind of the title track, and it's far more blatantly a story-song than anything else on the album. Hell, two thirds of it are just Finn talking, telling that story.
But what a story. Best thing I've heard this week.
I've been a fan of Craig Finn's band The Hold Steady and their thrift-store Springsteen routine for a number of years now, but I had started to wonder if they were going off the boil a bit, particularly on last year's patchy effort Teeth Dreams. So I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed Finn's second solo album, which might well have been subtitled Ten Songs In Search Of A Good Lawyer.
Finn's songs always gravitate towards the seedier side of town where people live their lives on the edge, but this is his grittiest offering yet: ten short stories that come on like Raymond Carver meets Dennis Lehane.
The opening track finds its narrator scouring the south western States looking for his missing boy (who, it's hinted, may have committed an unspeakable crime) and going off the rails himself when he gets involved with a Waco-esque cult.
And then there's Christine, a love song to a woman with really awful taste in men.
She went to Memphis With some dentist That she met on Some weird website She came back Three days later She couldn't speak for a week.
You've got to feel bad for poor, love-struck Craig when she tells him, 'You're such a good guy.' That's gotta hurt.
The album's full of semi-tragic heroines, from Christine to Sandra From Scranton ("She's got medical reasons for all these prescriptions") to poor old Sarah, Calling From A Hotel. He hasn't heard from her in nearly a year, when out of the blue she phones him from a hotel to apologise for how they ended. And then, before she hangs up, she tells him...
Here he comes Oh god, I gotta go. Here he comes He's got a gun. I gotta go.
Despite all this darkness (and, as in a lot of Hold Steady songs, lashings of Catholic guilt), there's a morbid wit at work here. Most notably on the final track, which features yet another beleaguered female protagonist, although the title keeps reminding me of that sketch from The Day Today in which Steve Coogan plays a nighttime swimming pool supervisor...
Next, at Number 6, small town dreams come true on a flashback to the very best of 80s rock...
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