The Hold Steady are getting ready to release their sixth studio album, Teeth Dreams, and now you can stream it via Spotify.
Teeth Dreams sees the band getting back to basics, while also moving forward. Although most of the songs sound familiar -- "Runners High" is very similar to Separation Sunday's "Hornets Hornets" and "Oats" is an acoustic waltz which sounds like Boys and Girls in America's "First Night" -- the album also sounds new. Maybe that's because there are no anthems. Though frontman Craig Finn once sang on Stay Positive's "Constructive Summer," "Our songs are sing along songs," this album goes off in another direction.
The album opens with "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You" setting the melancholy rock vibe of the album. At first, this might sound lackluster compared to Boys and Girls' "Stuck Between Station" or "Constructive Summer." Once Finn starts his signature shouting, it's clear that The Hold Steady is back in full force.
The second song, "Spinners," is a track about a girl spinning out of control. After an uplifting bridge, where finn sings "Once you're out there, everything seems possible," there's a false ending, followed by a wailing solo and a duel guitar riff. Another album standout is "The Only Thing," with Finn quoting Marmion by singing, "What a tangled web we've weaved." This track features an organ, which the band hasn't utilized since the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay. Interestingly, this moody song ends with a slow blues twang riff which somehow fits.
The Hold Steady talked to Billboard recently about the new album. On the topic of rock music today, frontman Craig Finn stated:
"When you watch an awards show, rock's relationship with the mainstream is like, if Dave Grohl is available, they'll have it... And if he's not, they won't."
On the new album, Guitarist Tad Kubler added:
"I've talked to people who've said it's a big rock record, it's a guitar record, and it's a loud album... but it's also dynamically more diverse than a lot of our previous records."
You can preorder the album on iTunes, which will be released on March 25th through Razor and Tie Recordings.
For more music, news and tour dates, check out The Hold Steady's Zumic Artist Page.
Source: Spotify
