So who’s doin’ the ragged Americana these days?  Gaslight Anthem went on hiatus Paul Westerberg has vanished outta sight I don’t know whos hitting the right notes and whos got that ragged guitar-driven story tellin’ Rock and Roll thing goin’ on?  the Hold Steady it would seem still like to turn up the amps, they still like to rock out they still haven’t gone full country or joined the balladeer circuit (well they might have individually but as a unit) these cats still make a noise.

Opener ‘Denver Haircut’ is just a great little uptempo story about the guy n gal next door but it’s done through a clean marshall amp and sounds mighty fine.  ‘You Did Good Kid’ is like Eels but louder or Waits with a better, less damaged voice.  Its got a lot of music going on under the storytelling with keyboards being hit and horn being honked damn there’s even tubular bells being struck if I’m not mistaken.  If Bruce hit writer’s block I know a band he could work with who would get him and what he does perfectly without becoming the E Street Band but no doubt were influenced by him especially on ‘Traditional Village’.

Finn is up there with the likes of Nick Cave for captivating an audience with his take on life and just scratching around surviving and the guy next door or down the street something someone like Mellencamp use to own. ‘Entitlement Crew’ is a class example of this whilst ‘T-Shirt Tux’ is like Costello when he started out with his Attractions.

The quality is maintained to the bitter end through the Lou Reed guitar clash of ‘Star 18’ and closing proceedings off with the jaunty ‘Confusion In The Marketplace’ I guess it is what it is and an album I was looking forward to picking up because I felt I trusted Finn and the band to just deliver a stone wall solid record and that’s just what I’ve got.  Whist its not going to change the world for half an hour it’ll make it a much brighter place and I love that.

Buy Thrashing Thru The Passion Here

Author: Dom Daley