The hold steady

The Hold Steady are rock and roll. The grit, sweat and blood. The drugs and alcohol. The everyman emotions. The self-destruction. All are perfectly encapsulated by Craig Finn and company's fourth release, Stay Positive. While the Hold Steady have their quirks (namely Finn's unusual but highly effective sing-speak delivery and the Catholic imagery that runs throughout), it takes little time to recognize Stay Positive as one of the year's strongest, most accomplished albums.

The album consists of 11 tracks that range from spectacular to outstanding. Each chronicles the lives of substance-addled individuals with intricate and furious guitars, deft keys work from Franz Nicolay and Finn's literate blue-collar poetry, brought to life by his gruff and inimitable voice.

Finn has created his own world over the course of the Hold Steady's discography, a world set in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Ybor City, which is populated with townies, hoodrats, drifters, scenesters, users and dealers. Certain lyrics particularly resonate, such as the line in murder-drama "One for the Cutters" that asks, "When one townie falls in the forest/Can anyone hear it?" Similarly, in "Stay Positive," a track that sound like the unknown theme song of an aging generation, Finn vows that "The kids at the shows/They'll have kids of their own/And the sing-a-long songs'll be their scriptures."

It's futile to pick out any more tracks and lyrics to highlight, as every track and lyric is a success on par with some of the giants of American music. This album is a landmark, the very convincing work of a band making a case for itself as one of the country's best, and-idiosyncrasies be damned-it's a masterpiece.