The Hold Steady - 'Stay Positive' (Rough Trade) Released 14/07/08

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“I was a sceptic at first but these miracles work,” Craig Finn barks at one point during the Hold Steady’s fourth full-length emission of riff-laden old school rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a pretty neat summary of the album.

Although any band who can get Pitchfork-reading hipsters salute the numb-skulled thrills of no-frills rocking out should be saluted at regular intervals, up until this point there’s been a limit to the much-praised Brooklyn quintet’s appeal. Sure, at their best the Hold Steady offer the most high-octane beers-aloft jubilation this side of Springsteen of ‘Rosalita’ vintage (Bruce’s huge influence remains to the fore here), and in Finn they have a gruff-voiced frontman whose lyrics can hold their own against the finest wordsmiths currently doing the rounds. Yet as exciting as 2006’s breakthrough ‘Boys and Girls In America’ and subsequent sweat-dripping live shows were, the boundless devotion to classic foot-on-the-monitor crunch didn’t exactly cater for anyone looking for a spot of variety, whilst Finn’s determination to pen entire platters about young folks in and around his native Minneapolis getting wasted and screwing up risked limiting the scope of an obviously hugely talented writer.

Whilst ‘Stay Positive’ rings resoundingly familiar for fans of a "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" persuasion, something’s changed – for the better. Although pumped-up arena rock remains the Hold Steady’s default setting, and slightly underwhelming songs like ‘Joke About Jamaica’ – yet another brilliantly observed account of someone losing their bearings amidst oceans of booze and powders – provides a reminder that just as overt consumption of refreshments gets in the way of creativity, it isn’t necessarily the most fruitful of subject matters either, the best bits come across fresh and newly energised, the sound of an inspired band canny enough not to wound up chasing their own tail.

The advance reports pitching ‘Stay Positive’ as an album about growing old gracefully aren’t that far off the target: the primitively groovy opener ‘Constructive Summer’, the rousing holler-along title track and the brass- and choir-laden, cult director John Cassavetas-referencing closer ‘Slapped Actress’ are all, to simplify things an awful lot, about getting on a bit and appreciating the uncomplicated joys of rock ‘n’ roll, not to mention the good fortune the Hold Steady’s enjoyed in building what started as an AC/DC-esque soundtrack to piss-ups to a globally recognised guarantee for a good night out. All of which could be horribly cheesy, but the band’s beamingly enthusiastic, grin-inducing fifth gear assault and Finn’s perfectly formed, conversational lyrics keep the mundane and the corny at bay.

But it’s the less predictable moments that truly shine. ‘One for the Cutters’ starts as a typical Hold Steady premise: a nice college girl takes to boozing, wounds up with bad company and big trouble. But Finn positions himself as a neutral observer here, catapulting the song to truly compelling heights that reads like a cracking short story, albeit one that gets extra entertainment value from the band’s uncommonly subtle, dramatic presentation. ‘Both Crosses’ is a compelling oddity, a mysterious, musically shadowy vision filled with religious imaginary, betrayal and guilt.

The undisputed standout, though, is the heartbreaking ‘Lord, I’m Discouraged’, a weary admission of powerlessness as an object of affection slips deeper into addiction, shot through with an unforgettable piano hook, Tad Kubler’s guitar heroics and enough harrowing desolation to match the painful beauty of Richmond Fontaine. Instead of answers or consolation, the protagonist is offered “excuses, half-truths and fortified wine”. You’d have had to succumb to the disorientating effects of the latter to ignore the charms of ‘Stay Positive’.