John Roderick on the Hold Steady
He hates 'em. Stereogum dug up The Long Winters frontman's thoughts on Craig Finn and co., and they are amusingly full of vitrol. The context: Roderick was invited to liveblog Bonnaroo for MSNBC, and apparently he thought the Hold Steady's set sounded like "a medley of the greatest hits of the E Street Band, Bad Company, Foreigner and Styx. As played by your uncle’s friends."
I totally enjoyed his takedown (and happen to agree with it), and am definitely a "If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit next to me" kind of girl (which by the way, I always thought that quote was Dorothy Parker, but it's actually attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the wild child First Daughter of Teddy R.). Sometimes my own criticism veers into angry evisceration. But I was also reminded of something Martin Amis said in his amazing collection of literary criticism "The War Against Cliche". He too fell prey to the lure of the slam early in his career. It's easy to be provocative while you're putting someone down, and he says (in the intro to the book, I think) he regrets some of his meaner reviews now that he's a more mature writer. It's an interesting perspective.
I don't have any amazing insight here. Just: John Roderick = Funny; Hold Steady = Average; Martin Amis = Darn good writer. Well, and: Writing mean things about people = immature but delightful.
eh, www.amNY.com
Comments (2)
i hate the hold steady as well. I dont think enough hate could be dumped on their heads. its a band we all love to hate. i saw them at the last gig ever at north six and there were people saying, god they suck, how could they ever be so popular. i just dont like them, at all. they cant really play their instruments well, and the singer is really annoying.
and if they read it, j/k i dont really mean it, i mean you're just not my cup of tea, ok?...
btw- the new Art Brut(who are the opposite of the hold steady, imo) is streaming on spinner: http://spinner.aol.com/artists/new-releases-full-cds
now this is a good song/vid: emily kane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfZF6kfVA2k
i don't hate the hold steady, but i was baffled by the attention they got...i guess i think they are about average as well.
as for mean things: here's a great link for you eh: http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2102991,00.html