Vagrant – Release Date: 5/4/10

The Hold Steady’s fifth album, Heaven is Whenever, finds the band sounding further assured and at ease than ever before. Despite the departure of multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay, the group doesn’t seem as though it’s grasping to fill some sort of void. Rather, it’s more like they’ve embraced a newfound sense of certainty and conviction. On the whole, this collection of songs features added breathing room, a deep-seated classic rock vibe and improved vocal arrangements. Tracks two and three, “Soft in the Center” and “The Weekenders”, get things started on a positive note, as both provide big hooks, pleasant harmonies and blazing guitar leads. Also emphasized on the aforementioned songs is singer/guitarist Craig Finn’s patented lyrical approach of lessons learned from young love gone awry. However, the disc’s best lyrics are found on “Rock Problems”, which refreshingly injects a drop of cynical humor into one of Finn’s conventional tales of drunken follies. Perhaps the album’s top entry though is “Hurricane J” and its upbeat backing vocals, mega chorus and charging, energetic crescendo. The remaining songs aren’t quite as memorable, and overall Heaven is Whenever probably isn’t as strong a release as the band’s previous two full-lengths. That being said, this is still a decent effort that possesses quality production and artwork, and should undoubtedly be purchased by previous fans of the band. Newcomers in search of exceptional, riff-heavy rock ‘n roll should first sample their 2006 record, Boys and Girls in America.