The Hold Steady — Stay Positive

There's nothing more difficult than following up a breakthrough album. Some try to recreate the past (Wilco, circa everything after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) while others move in entirely different directions (Arcade Fire). The Hold Steady kind of fell into their watershed success. Boys And Girls In America wasn't a striking departure from their previous work, but more a culmination of everything that had made them great to that point. Stay Positive is merely a further extension of Boys And Girls. The differences are minor but significant. Craig Finn sings more melodically than ever, and the group tackle one form of songwriting that could send them to even higher peaks — the anthem. I'll be disappointed if I don't hear people loudly chanting the chorus of "Sequestered In Memphis" and the singalong refrain of the title track. Stay Positive is the sound of a confident band hitting their stride.

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