SLCene Suggests: The Hold Steady at The Urban Lounge

THE HOLD STEADY, THE URBAN LOUNGE, Monday, July 14, 9 p.m., $22

Few bands are as revered in my household as this crew. I even have an autographed poster from a long-ago show in Montana hanging on the wall of my living room. For the past decade, The Hold Steady’s straightforward rock sound and frontman Craig Finn’s incredible ways with lyrical narratives have combined to make them critical favorites and one of the best live bands working today. The band formed in 2003, and my own fandom started in 2006 when the Brooklyn crew released their album Boys and Girls in America.  It was a brilliant collection of songs that referenced everything from Jack Kerouac to rock festival medical tents to Finn’s Catholic upbringing. Seeing the band play live the first time was an eye-opening experience, as Finn channeled Bruce Springsteen’s rock and roll evangelist stage persona at an indie-rock, club-sized level.  Now entering their second decade as a band, The Hold Steady released a new album earlier this year called Teeth Dreams, the band’s sixth overall. It’s a more guitar-oriented, raucous affair than the band’s past few efforts, at that’s a good thing. Cheap Girls open the show.