Q&A: Craig Finn

On The Hold Steady's fourth album, singer Craig Finn tears through sordid tales about girls getting screwed against dumpsters ("One for the Cutters"), Saturday nights that stretch into Sunday mornings ("Joke About Jamaica") and run-ins with the law ("Sequestered in Memphis"). But as the title of the new record suggests, Stay Positive's propulsive, riff-heavy brand of pub rock comes with a big dose of optimism. "It's a rage against the dying of the light," says Finn, sitting in a bar in Brooklyn, which is home base for the five-piece. "The record ended up being about holding on to youthful ideals in the face of aging."

In two songs on "Stay Positive," you sing about two kids dying. Is there a hidden message on the album?
No. Maybe. Somewhat. Yeah. Someone who's listened a lot to Hold Steady's first three records will understand it a little bit better. It's like Springsteen. On "Jungleland," he mentions a "magic rat." I'd always be like, "Who's that rat?"

I love the line "Sniffing at crystal in cute little cars/Getting nailed against dumpsters behind townie bars."
As a musician who plays college towns, I see the buildings on Main Street are always so quaint, but behind, where we park our van, is as dirty as any other city.

On the new disc, you reference "D'yer Maker," and musically there seem to be allusions to Zeppelin.
Definitely. Tad Kubler's guitar playing resembles Jimmy Page a little bit. "Navy Sheets" is almost like an In Through the Out Door thing, and "Both Crosses" is a Zeppelin III thing. In 1993, when I graduated from college, there was still a vast amount of classic rock that I'd never checked out because I thought it was the enemy of punk rock. When the [Zeppelin] DVD came out [in 2003], I was finally able to say, "This is amazing. I get it!" I was able to embrace them after I turned 30.