The thinking man's bar band, the Hold Steady use a thundering classic-rock template--evoking everything from Boston to the Faces--as a base from which lead singer Craig Finn delivers his epic sung-spoken Springsteen-esque narratives of searching for faith and redemption at the bottom of an empty bottle. Refreshingly irony-free, the Hold Steady are one of the best reminders of rock & roll's classic spirit to have emerged in the early years of the new millennium.







![Laughing In the Face [10/6] (CD) ~ Bullets & Octane (Artist) Cover Art](http://i43.tower.com/images/ss113962205/laughing-in-face-bullets-octane-cd-cover-art.jpg)


















![Buffet Hotel [12/8] (CD) ~ Jimmy Buffett (Artist) Cover Art](http://i43.tower.com/images/ss114066848/buffet-hotel-jimmy-buffett-cd-cover-art.jpg)





