Issue #39 - Best of 2011Craig Finn
Clear Heart Full Eyes
Vagrant
Jan 26, 2012 Craig Finn
The Hold Steady’s crunchy bar-rock never really made much sense for frontman Craig Finn’s brand of lyrics-first, reference-laden, recurrent pan-album concepts. Most of us have to squint past their beefy riffage to witness his immense storytelling capabilities. Not that it’s been a bad formula, just an unusual one, and The Hold Steady obviously have a special place in plenty of hearts. But Finn’s certainly taking a more traditional role on his solo debut, Clear Heart Full Eyes. Amidst gentle acoustic compositions that range from throwback honky-tonk to pensive singer/songwriter narratives, Finn puts aside his usual shouty tales of druggy teenaged vagabonds to subtly engage with the quieter topics of God and love.
The obvious comparison will be Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, simply because both artists have a shared obsession with the American teenage experience, and their quietest moments tend to be the most personally revealing. Finn has a historic relationship with religion, but things come across much cleaner on Clear Heart. “New Friend Jesus” tells the tale of a bad boyfriend turned reformed Christian and out to prove his newfound goodness. Naturally he meets a nasty end with the cops. The smoldering, and powerfully up-for-interpretation “Western Pier” is among Finn’s best lyrical performances ever, detailing a man (or maybe he’s a demon?) stumbling into uncharted and antagonistic territory. Of course there’s plenty of Finn-isms, such as “people say we suck at sports but they don’t understand/it’s hard to catch with holes right through your hands.” If that’s what you’re here for, you won’t be disappointed. You may find that you’ve underestimated the importance of The Hold Steady’s bravado, and how those cannon-blasted guitars make him better, but like Darnielle, or Springsteen, or Dylan, he’s perfectly fine left to his own devices. (www.theholdsteady.net)
Author rating: 6/10
Average reader rating: 8/10
Most Recent
- Interplay (Review) — Ride
- Feeder @ Rock City, Nottingham, UK, March 25, 2024 (Review) — Feeder
- Bernard Butler (ex-Suede) Announces First Solo Album in 25 Years, Shares New Song “Camber Sands” (News) — Bernard Butler, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Suede, McAlmont & Butler
- Arab Strap Share Video for New Song “Strawberry Moon” (News) — Arab Strap
- Hovvdy Share New Song “Make Ya Proud” (News) — Hovvdy
Comments
Submit your comment
There are no comments for this entry yet.