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He's so psyched as he watches those houses get bigger that he invests his excellent story-songs with an emotion their excellent studio versions have never matched--though maybe now they will.
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We’ve been the Hold Steady, and You’ve been the Hold Steady, he says predictably... but for once, on a live-recording, you didn’t have to be there.
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The elements that make the band's performances distinct are all there: Finn’s rapid-fire, sometimes nearly incoherent delivery; the chemistry between the band members; the between-song banter that is equal parts inviting and human and kind of crazy.
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Whether you’ve never been to a Hold Steady show or are jonesing for a fix between tours, A Positive Rage will leave you feeling joyfully connected to one of the best bands of today.
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The Hold Steady's first live disc (and documentary DVD), recorded in 2008 at Chicago's Metro, is a raucous 17-track scorcher that finds Finn's speedily spat monologues working surprisingly well onstage.
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This one captures the band near the end of its Boys and Girls in America tour, and is a fine, representative sample of Craig Finn’s wordy tales of debauchery and Tad Kubler’s crunching power chords.
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There are some missteps on this album, but the last line on the record, which comes at the end of the seven-minute closer, is a perfect sign-off: “This shouldn’t hurt, but you might feel a slight discomfort”--an ominous warning and a promise of a new awakening.