If most of your favorite memories from high school are soaked in drugs, alcohol and puppy love that never quite ended, then the new Hold Steady album Boys and Girls in America will send you into a nostalgic tailspin. If not, you owe it to yourself to hear how the other side lived via this album.
Boys and Girls in America is drenched with colorful Twin Cities references and personal stories that lend themselves very well to the overall sound of the record. Distorted guitars are laced with ballroom piano on “Stuck between Stations”, a song as much about doomed youth as it is about drunken reveling. “Chips Ahoy” has single written all over it even if sounds as if Charles Bukowski could have written the lyrics. Just as it seems monotony might set in, “First Night” slows the record down and proves the album has legs with its heart wrenching lyrics and hauntingly sparse arrangement, which is echoed in one of the album’s strongest songs, “Citrus”. “Massive Nights” will make anyone who’s gone on underage liquor runs smile and “Chillout Tent” welcomes Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) and Elizabeth Elmore (The Reputation) as backup vocalists. Lyrics and references are repeated from song to song, but rather than feel recycled, it lends to the intimacy of the album.
BAGIA is the Hold Steady’s most polished and radio friendly album to date, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, the only glaring complaint about this album is its length. Clocking it at just over 40 minutes, you’ll be left begging for more. This album is bound to be on countless top 10 lists, and I’ll be surprised if another album knocks it off the top of my list.
9.0/10
Mahalo,
Brett
Sauer's Second Opinion: I will have to agree with Brett on this one. BAGIA is one of the year's best records. Filled with familiar stories of long nights of partying and the lessons we learn from them. It's hard not to relate to most of these characters. It's rare when an album feels this authentic and personal. Similar to Springsteen's Born to Run, The Hold Steady have released an album that speaks for the average suburban flunky. It may not be the most original album musically, but lyrically it's as honest as it want's to be. A concept album for the drinking-class. 9.1/10.0