Steady diet of rock

I'll put it plainly: The Hold Steady are one of the great underground bands of the noughties, and you should get to know their music immediately.\nNow, many of you probably aren't familiar with The Hold Steady yet and, since Boys And Girls In America is their third album, the effort might seem somewhat daunting -- especially when you learn that songwriter Craig Finn has populated their albums with recurring characters, themes and locations. \nBut don't worry, their sound -- big, red-meat, middle-American bar-band rawk -- carries a similar appeal as classic Springsteen. And, on the other stuff -- I'm here to help. So, consider this a very quick and dirty layman's guide:\nThe first thing to know is that every song is a story about "The Scene" -- a world of punk rock, wild parties and lurking violence, all fueled by massive consumption of alcohol and hard drugs. And while The Scene has offshoots in such far corners as Modesto, Calif. (B-side "Modesto Is Not That Sweet") and Western Massachusetts (Boys And Girls' "Chillout Tent"), its capital is Minneapolis, whose bars, squats, churches and shopping malls feature prominently. Now, for all their hedonism and mad adventures, the characters inhabiting The Scene pay a steep price -- ending up physically, emotionally and/or spiritually damaged by their experiences. But then, you only live once -- and like surfers swept up in a tempest only to be battered against the rocks, they get one hell of a ride in-between.\nIn 2004, Almost Killed Me laid out The Scene's basics. In 2005, Separation Sunday was The Scene's version of a Catholic passion play (and introduced three characters: the aging, religious hipster Hallelujah Holly; the shifty street hustler Charlemagne; and the mysterious Denverite Gideon). Now, true to its title, Boys And Girls takes on the subject of love and relationships in The Scene -- which, in a mere 40 minutes, The Hold Steady cover to a stunningly broad extent. From the frustratingly distant lover of "Chips Ahoy!" to the dependence and manipulation of "You Can Make Him Like You" to the sweet (and somewhat goofy) stolen moment between strangers of "Chillout Tent," they go way beyond the typical lust and break-up tropes, even incorporating such secondary themes as addiction, loss of innocence and the divine's appearance in everyday life. And while I suspect that fans will fight interminably over whether Boys And Girls measures up to Separation Sunday (its use of back-up singers will be a major issue of contention), it's nevertheless a satisfying addition to The Scene's chronicles.\nBut most importantly: It really, really rocks.