During the title track to previous effort Stay Positive Craig Finn sings ‘the kids at their shows/ they’ll have kids of their own/ the sing-a-long songs will be our scriptures.’ Heaven is Whenever is the natural follow up to Stay Positive and that line specifically. Finn spends Heaven Is Whenever reminiscing about how The Hold Steady got to where they are today. Instead of being one of the kids, he’s taken on more of an observer role and elder statesman of the ’scene.’
Opening track “The Sweet Part of the City” sets up the rest of the album perfectly. Rather than the anthemic songs that opened the previous albums, this track has an alt-country feel full of nostalgia and reflecting on the good old days. At first listen I was disappointed that it didn’t open with the trademark Hold Steady sound, but as I got deeper into the album it made sense. HIW centers on that time in the city and the lessons our protagonist (Craig?) has learned.
Craig sings on “Soft in the Center” that you can’t get every girl you want, you’ll get the ones that you love best. It sounds as if he is giving advice to someone younger, which on the surface he is, but with the next track it sounds as if our protagonist is reminding himself of that lesson.
“The Weekenders” follows and is one of The Hold Steady’s best songs. It is the sequel to “Chips Ahoy” and is a much darker, sadder story. Craig sings about being involved because he was the only one left, and yet he still wishes he could go back and do another weekender. Is it possible to summarize the complexity of relationships in one song? No, but Finn comes very close in this one.
Individual songs aside, this is an album that rewards multiple listens. On the surface, the references to past THS songs may slip past. I won’t spoil them all for you, but Craig saying that something “almost killed me” during Rock Problems is too good not to share. The rest of the album features all of the marks of THS’s discography, with references to the bible, nightlife, death and love. The album is a love letter to music, and the title of the record comes from the line “Heaven is Whenever/We can get together/Sit down on your floor/And listen to your records.” That’s all that The Hold Steady wants to do, make music that you want to listen to with the ones that you love. And that mission was accomplished. Is it as good as Separation Sunday or Boys and Girls in America? No, but it is still one of the best records of the year.
