Price of Progress

The Hold Steady began work on 2023s The Price of Progress only a few months after 2021s Open Door Policy was delivered to their fans, so its no great surprise that, in many respects, it feels like a continuation of the earlier albums themes. Then again, both albums follow a blueprint the band has worked with from its inception, anthemic tunes married to dense, character-driven lyrics, and if the Hold Steady sound a lot more polished and accomplished in 2023 than on 2004s Almost Killed Me, theyve gained far more than theyve lost in the course of their evolution. The Price of Progress finds them writing and performing at the top of their game. The album offers ten songs about people whose lives are in flux in one way or another -- the guy who stopped going to work but hasnt told his live-in girlfriend ("Carlos Is Crying"), the casual friends who might or might not become lovers ("Sixers"), the gambler hoping a last big bet will bring him into the black ("City at Eleven"), the washed-up rock & rollers telling tall tales about past and future accomplishments ("Sideways Skull"), and the jacked-up football fan who invades the field ("Flyover Halftime"). Craig Finn has matured into the best short story writer in rock & roll, penning compact tales that are powerfully evocative as his characters wrestle with the circumstances life has dropped them in, and the band matches him brilliantly at every turn, full of nuance on numbers like "Distortions of Faith" or turning up the guitars and letting rip on "Flyover Halftime." The subtle addition of strings, horns, and additional backing vocalists never feels intrusive -- this band has always thought big, but they know how to do so without excess, and even at their most operatic, Tad Kubler and Steve Selvidges guitars and Franz Nicolays keyboards can reach for the grand gesture without straining, and Galen Polivkas bass and Bobby Drakes drumming keep this firmly rooted at all times. At a time when its easy to feel alienated, the Hold Steady understand, and are smart enough to know they cant fix the world. But theyre good-hearted enough to commiserate and talented enough to make the stories well worth hearing, and thats just what they do on The Price of Progress. ~ Mark Deming