Spring '08 LPs From Madonna, Coldplay, The Roots, Mudcrutch, Elvis Costello

The Hold Steady

Stay Positive July

For their fourth album, the Hold Steady didn't exactly abandon their visceral bar-band attack: The sweaty grooves, big riffs and singer Craig Finn's vibrant narratives are all back on Stay Positive. But with the New York quintet having written much of the disc on the road, trading song sketches between laptops, Stay Positive is more expansive, including talk-box solos, harpsichord and tuneful vocals (the notoriously gruff-voiced Finn started taking voice lessons). "There are some bands that do five records that all sound similar," says guitarist Tad Kubler. "We've tried to avoid that."