The Hold Steady
“The Weekenders”
Vagrant Records
Rating: 3/10
“The Weekenders,” from The Hold Steady’s upcoming album Heaven Is Whenever, is rife with the band’s trademarks: Sing-it-loud choruses and verbose lyrics chock-full of nostalgia. Unfortunately, the approach doesn’t work too well for the Brooklyn-based group this time around. With an almost unrecognizable chorus and slurred vocals, the effort has no peak, but rather drags through the four minutes. The group touches on a few clear points (“But it’s not gonna be like in romantic comedies/ In the end I bet no one learns a lesson”), but then quickly jumps back into an ambiguous void (“There was that whole weird thing with the horses”). It’s one thing to be cryptic, but another to make no sense at all.
