The Hold Steady: Critics and Twins

Last update: July 19, 2008 - 2:08 PM

Critics get their rocks off

We usually leave the blurbing to the publicists, but in this case we just had to share some of the zealous, fawning but nonetheless deserved praise that rock critics have spewed on the Hold Steady:

"The greatest straight-up rock band of the 21st century."

-- Esquire magazine

"We believe in one band."

-- Headline to the (religious-themed) 2005 Village Voice cover story

"Right now, no band displays the ranting soul, haunted heart or diseased liver of the American rock myth with more truth and empathy than the Hold Steady."

-- Rolling Stone's four-star review of "Stay Positive"

"For all of Finn's holding his lyrics at arm's length here, he remains one of the best writers in rock."

-- PitchforkMedia.com

"Finn tells better stories than anyone else in music today."

-- Blender

Finn picks Twins vs. Yankees

Eight years since leaving the Twin Cities for New York, Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn remains a diehard Twins fan. When the Edina native returns home for Tuesday's First Avenue gig, his beloved team will be in New York, taking on the despised Yankees in a three-game series that starts Monday. Finn had plenty to say about that:

"I think they'll have no problem with the Yankees. They'll at least win the series if not sweep them. It'll be fun to be there to watch the game. Not sure when our set time is, but I hope to watch. If they're playing during our set, we'll run updates during our set.

"I'm really excited about them this season. They're outplaying their expectations. I was just back [in Minneapolis], and the guy who does the music at the Dome hooked me up. The day I went to the game was the start of their winning streak [16 wins in 18 games]. I got to watch from the booth and got to meet Bert Blyleven, which was awesome."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER