It's an American rock album for your generation.  Full text...

On Boys and Girls, some things have changed that will make the band more palatable to doubters yet could disappoint Separation Sunday fans: Finn sings more than speaks, and his lyrics have a big-picture approach, allowing listeners to fill details of their own lives into the songs rather than be required to commit fully to those of his characters.  Full text...

Boys And Girls showcases The Hold Steady as a group, starting with Tab Kubler's layered riffing on the majestic album-opener "Stuck Between Stations," and continuing through the last song, "Southtown Girls," in which the whole band sings. Always muscular, The Hold Steady is now wiry to boot, capable of cabaret ballads like "First Night" as well as Thin-Lizzy-meets-Black-Flag anthems like "Massive Night."  Full text...

Boys and Girls in America is one of the year's best albums.  Full text...

The most fun album of deserves your attention right this instant.   Full text...

As Wurlitzer organs pump in the background, songs like "First Night" and "You Can Make Him Like You" conjure up a bit of Springsteen, a bit of Westerberg and far more catchiness than they should rightfully be allowed.  Full text...

Boys and Girls in America is party music for the indie nerds, over-educated and obsessives.  Full text...

From start to finish, the album is filled with monster melodies in the form of dramatic monologues and screeching instrumentals.  Full text...

Boy and Girls in America might be aiming for literary validation, but lines like "We drink / We dry up / Then we crumble to dust," from "Stations," pretty much nail the world Finn's so doggedly explicating.  Full text...

This is still very much the same bar band, still singing about the same topics and characters, and only very slightly changing things up.  Full text...

Finn sounds less like a drinking pal and more like the guy whose records play on the jukebox when you’re drinking, something Finn would probably be proud of.  Full text...

Boys is a sweet thing: fist-pumpable rock with brains, heart and words worth coming back to.  Full text...