A Positive Jam Track 4: Most People Are DJs

Explicit content warning

08/26/20 • 35 min

We're on the party boat for track 4 as the Hold Steady brings listeners down to Ybor City for the first time. Mike has been to Ybor City, so we talk about why it's the perfect setting for Hold Steady style bacchanalia. We also get into why this is a lighter and more fun song, and which lines really work well on the track. Also, that guitar solo that just keeps going? We get into that.

Most People Are DJs is another statement of purpose, but the Hold Steady manage it while only getting a little bit heavy. Just a little light in the head-y. Meta references and porn stars crop up, jet skis and girls wearing berets, and by the time you finish listening to this episode you'll be stumbling but still in it.

Check out show notes here: https://shortmanstudios.com/a-positive-jam-track-4-most-people-are-djs/

Check out show notes here: https://shortmanstudios.com/a-positive-jam-track-4-most-people-are-djs/

Previous Episode

A Positive Jam Track 3: Barfruit Blues

Barfruit Blues starts sludgy and ugly, but turns into a soaring, affirmative song about the power of music. The band's back together, they're back in a bar, and it's better to leave and return than to never go anywhere at all. Right?

Mike and Daniel break down the razor-sharp lines on this track and how a jumble of sounds and parts comes together by the second half to make for a triumphant third track on Almost Killed Me.

This episode also features an archival live version of the song from 2005.

See our show notes including some of our category winners and more details on the song and the episode here - https://shortmanstudios.com/a-positive-jam-track-3-barfruit-blues/

Next Episode

A Positive Jam Track 5: Certain Songs

Certain Songs slows things down, and it marks the feature debut of Franz Nicolay’s piano playing - a key sonic element in the albums that follow Almost Killed Me. Certain Songs not only foreshadows the Hold Steady's future; it also raises the question: Do the band’s heartfelt ballads bring the momentum to a halt?

We talk about how Certain Songs’ “piano man” balladeering fits on the album, whether slow songs are acceptable for hard-rock Hold Steady fans, and what it means that Craig Finn's lyrics spotlight a woman for the first time on the album. We also draw on canonic cultural works like...checks notes...The OC to explain why drawing on Billy Joel, Meatloaf, and the more populist side of rock and roll is effective, at least in this case.

Check out full show notes here: https://shortmanstudios.com/a-positive-jam-track-5-certain-songs/