The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis (Rough Trade)
UK release date: 7 July 2008
Hard drinkin', hard living, and utterly fantastic, The Hold Steady have managed what some might consider impossible. Firstly, that it is possible to be in a band when you're over 30 and still make it. Secondly, that big fat Americanised riffs are pretty fucking cool.
Anyone who caught Springsteen's recent jaunt around the UK will testify to the power of his songs and performance. It just so happens that The Hold Steady have a neat line in tunes that sound as if they've been written by Bruce's long lost feral brother, and Sequestered In Memphis is no exception. Indeed it's the closest they've come to sounding like the E Street Band, which again, is no bad thing at all.
Craig Finn's lyrics, like Springsteen's, tend to be character based, but more often than not, there's no romantic hero in Finn's work. "In the barlight she looked alright, In the Daylight, she looked desperate" Finn sings. His depiction of life as dirty, fun, and rough, is a seam that runs throughout The Hold Steady's music.
Then there's that seething organ poured all over the sleaze coated guitar riffs. Sequestered is incendiary, and as it burns, it catches in your throat as you bellow along to the chorus. This is easily as good as anything they've released before, if not better.
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