Boys And Girls In America
by The Hold Steady

From Kaduken 04/09/2020 17:40 | #249704 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A pseudo-concept album from the perspective of an ex-partier, wavering between nostalgia at the good moments of being part of the drug-fueled rock and roll scene of Minneapolis past, and acknowledgement that that time of life incubated and exacerbated the tragedies of adulthood for many of those involved.

Sonically, the album is propelled by Franz Nicolay's unflichingly "glam" keys and equally spectacular guitar solos. There are echos of Springsteen and other late 70's to 80's anthemic rock. There are some tracks whose corniness detracts from the poignancy of others. All in all, a fun and easily repeatable listen if you don't pay too much attention to the lyrics, but on further listening, Boys and Girls in America can serve as a reflective meditation on the price of the hedonism of youth.

A fine album on the surface, it was a promising follow-up to their excellent (and rather underrated) previous two releases and had a bigger budget to match the HS's increasingly grander ambitions... but something just didn't click here. It lacks the casual wit and quirky observational style that give their previous releases's a more grounded feel; and while it certainly has big, stadium-ready tracks, it lacks any memorable moments or melodies. And the whole concept as well as the song's individual subjects come across as sappy and archetypal, rather than genuinely heartfelt. Not a big belly-flop but one of the decade's more frustrating dissapointments.

I remember feeling super eletic when I first got this. Long before I found this site and before they became... sort of popular. They're a band which I want to like. None of the songs are too bad on here and Chillout Tent is rather memorable. Just can't get into the overall sound of the album. All goes in one ear and out the other even I'm enjoying it. I might have to check out more albums by them before I give up completely on them.

From HoldenM TOP 100 COMMENTER 08/08/2015 03:38 | #147342 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I've been listening to this since I was junior or senior in high school, and coming back to it, it's still as hard-hitting, and still as tender-hearted as I remember. A track or two might not be to my liking, but on the whole, this remains one of my all-time favorites, as well as one of the finest rock records of the last decade.

I am conflicted about this album. I like all of its parts rather well. The vocalist has personality and interesting lyrics and there is a nice variety of instrumentation, but as a whole this album barely engages me at all. It's not bad by any means, but the melodies are just kind of lackluster.