The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever

The Hold Steady's frontman Craig Finn has described the band's last album -- 2008's well-received, 90k-selling Stay Positive -- as being "about the attempt to age gracefully." We're not sure exactly what the theme is for the Brooklyn based indie rockers fifth opus Heaven Is Whenever (May 4, Vagrant), but based on what we've heard we'd say that the "aging gracefully" period is officially over. The crunchy riff-rock and run-on lyrical dexterity that finds the nexus between Springsteen and the Replacements has, if anything, taken a more aggressive stance with the departure of the band's keyboard maven Franz Nicolay, the addition of guitarist Steve Selvidge for the Steady's charged live shows and a more pronounced role for lead guitarist Tad Kubler.

Producer Dean Baltulonis, who handled The Hold Steady's 2005 album Separation Sunday, is back at the helm for Heaven's ten new tracks, many of which have been "road tested" over the last couple of years in a live setting, allowing the band to evaluate "what was working and what wasn't", according to Finn. New songs that did make the cut include lead single "Hurricane J", a track that exemplifies Finn's assessment of the new "sense of space" on the album, the result of the larger guitar/smaller keys strategy . There's a bristling, energized core to the more stripped down sound of "Hurricane J" as well as the raucous "Rock Problems" while our fave "The Weekenders" allows for a more dynamic foundation and intense, slow burn. Highly recommended.

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The Hold Steady - "The Weekenders" (from the album Heaven Is Whenever)

The Hold Steady - "Hurricane J" (from the album Heaven Is Whenever)