In the wake of Heavenly's Space Manatee
Few people noticed when Heavenly's drummer, Mathew Fletcher, killed himself. But, says the Hold Steady's Craig Finn, it is through barely known stories such as his that the bonds betweeen fans and...
View ArticleHail, Hail, Rock'n'roll
Musicians don't have to open up their lives or invite someone on to the tour bus to give someone that joy, that feeling of being part of something biggerYou maybe don't remember the June Brides,...
View ArticleThe Faith and Void: the glorious Dischord of 1980s harDCore punk
Washington DC was fertile ground for hardcore punk in the 1980s, with Dischord records its main outlet. Craig Finn celebrates the still-vital Faith/Void split LPIn the early 1980s, while Ronald Reagan...
View ArticleCraig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes – review
(Full Time Hobby)His solo debut sees Craig Finn abandoning the Hold Steady's trademark Springsteenesque bar blues. There are no "whoah whoahs", and the songs don't blaze out of the speakers as if they...
View ArticleCraig Finn: Clear Heart Full Eyes – review
(Full Time Hobby)Craig Finn is the frontman of the Hold Steady, the connoisseur's single malt of US rock bands, on his debut solo outing. Steady loyalists are bound to miss the band's emotive clangour,...
View ArticleOld music: Lifter Puller – Space Humping $19.99
Before the Hold Steady, Craig Finn was already mythologising the underbelly of Minneapolis – minus the classic rock riffsFirst, an apology, or at least an explanation. Any of you who've read much I've...
View Article48 minutes with … Craig Finn
The Hold Steady singer on why you shouldn't even think of texting if you sit in the front row at one of his gigsAccording to the Washington Post, your solo album Clear Heart Full Eyes "underscores...
View ArticleThe Felice Brothers/Craig Finn – review
Koko, LondonCraig Finn could write short stories, or even poems, but instead he chooses music. Normally this indefatigable storyteller recites his everyman narratives over the heady propulsive rush of...
View ArticleThe Rolling Stones can't be all cynical – they've long promoted other bands
Tempted to view the Stones bringing Florence Welch onstage as cheap credibility chasing? Their history suggests otherwiseYou might have sighed a little, surveying the latest reports of the Rolling...
View ArticleThe Hold Steady – a band whose relationship with their fans defines them
Following a band isn’t just about the music – it’s about fans feeling they belong to something bigger. Which is something the Hold Steady understand• Craig Finn: ‘I was no longer a loser’Bands can have...
View ArticleThe Hold Steady: Teeth Dreams review – 'Richer, more expansive, with every...
(Washington Square/Razor & Tie)Ten years on from their debut – and four from the lineup shuffle that produced 2010's underwhelming Heaven Is Whenever– Brooklyn's blue-collar rock heroes sound like...
View ArticleTeeth Dreams review – 'the big record they've been threatening to make'
The Hold Steady's sixth album sees their sound get bigger and singer Craig Finn's songwriting subtly evolve• Watch a video of the Hold Steady discussing their relationship with their fansSix albums...
View ArticleThe Hold Steady: watch the video for Spinners
Have a look at the animated video for Spinners, from the Hold Steady's new album, Teeth Dreams• Kitty Empire on the new Hold Steady album – 'the big record they've been threatening to make'OK. I admit...
View ArticleCraig Finn's guide to the best ever sports music
He’s a dedicated fan of the Minnesota Vikings and the Twins – and he’s just released his second solo album, Faith in the Future. Here are Craig Finn’s favourite ever sports-related records …That would...
View ArticleCraig Finn: We All Want the Same Things review – master storyteller gets...
(Partisan Records)Craig Finn loves filling his music with stories. So much so, you suspect that if the Hold Steady vocalist ever tried his hand at a minimalist techno album he’d still manage to cram...
View ArticleMy pop highlight of 2017, by Rag’n’Bone Man, Charli XCX and more
From Craig David’s intergenerational Glastonbury success to Tim Jonze’s run-in with Marc Almond, pop stars and Guardian music writers pick their musical memories of the yearThere is something uniquely...
View ArticleThe Hold Steady: Thrashing Thru the Passion review – chancers and chasers in...
(Frenchkiss Records)Craig Finn’s barstool-rock raconteurs paint a portrait of booze-soaked Americana with their most enthralling record in yearsYou don’t listen to Hold Steady albums – you live in...
View Article'I should have grown out of this': how pop fandom shaped us
As Pete Paphides publishes a memoir of his life in pop, our writers reflect on the childhood musical loves that made themMy mum and dad were Greek, but growing up in Birmingham in the 1970s, I needed...
View ArticleThe Hold Steady: Open Door Policy review – Springsteen-isms welcome
(Positive Jams)The Brooklyn-based rockers add a splash of brass to their everyman stylings on this lyrical eighth albumGiven Craig Finn’s powerful depictions of the minor triumphs and tragedies of...
View Article‘One hell of a party’: readers on their albums of 2021 so far
From the sunny vibes of rapper Topaz Jones to the guitar anthems of Du Blonde, here are the records that have really grabbed our readers over the last six months• Catch up on the Guardian’s albums of...
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