Separation Sunday [or] Almost Killed Me (they have the same barcode)

"We Believe in One Band. The Hold Steady's liberation theology makes for the Year's Best Album So Far.”
- Village Voice

'Separation Sunday' is the powerful new album from New York's electrifying The Hold Steady. Led by enigmatic frontman Craig Finn, The Hold Steady rose phoenix-like from the ashes of Minneapolis artpunk critic faves Lifter Puller, to create a new brand of the Midwestern-mentality classic rock ideal, made famous by the loose energy of the legendary Replacements and the epic flourishes of the E-Street Band [back when Bruce was still Boss]. Coupling this with an almost obsessive literary lyrical focus, Finn's catholic upbringing informs many of the album's themes.

The ranting and raving Finn spits out a tale of drug-fuelled abandon wrapped up in biblical imagery with a punky bark recalling Husker Du's Bob Mould. 'Separation Sunday' follows the story of a motley cast of debauched characters as they pursue fast times, set against a suburban landscape of citified circumstance - and ultimately find a strange sort of salvation.

"Separation Sunday is at once surreal and gloriously sweaty - a whirlwind tour through an overstuffed brain."
- Rolling Stone

"Epic and huge and molten and beautiful.”
- Pitchforkmedia