Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes Review
Posted by C.A. Bell on 01.24.2012
The first solo record from The Hold Steady's frontman Craig Finn is a trip into the world of singer-songwriters. Any fan of that group can tell you the trip isn't very far. Luckily, it's a good one.
Release Date: Jan. 24, 2012
Running Time: 40:22
Label: Vagrant
Genre: Alternative Singer/Songwriter
Drug of Choice: Scotch Whiskey, Holy Wine, Cigarettes
Key Tracks:
"New Friend Jesus"
"Terrified Eyes"
"Honolulu Blues"
"Rented Room"
Clear Heart Full Eyes, Craig Finn's first album as a solo artist, is a record that won't surprise Hold Steady fans, and yet is miles away from anything he has done with that group. Sounding more like Jay Farrar than The Gaslight Album, this record puts Finn cleanly inside of a singer-songwriter mode. With little to no exceptions, this works for Finn without having to change up his songwriting style too much.
Are Finn's references to Freddie Mercury and Johnny Lydon really that far removed from Dylan's to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly? I don't think so, and his runaway cement truck delivery seems oddly at home within these more laid back arrangements. The down tempo instrumentation serves to put Finn's signature stories on display, rather than hiding them within a fog of guitar buzz. As a result, Finn's songs gain an emotional spectrum that I haven't heard before. He is allowed to play with reminiscence, vulnerability, sorrow, and even joyful anticipation here unlike anything from the Hold Steady catalog.
Some tracks, like the opener "Apollo Bay", sound like reworked songs that Finn intended to use with the Hold Steady. These are fine and good, but it is the new territory that I find really exciting. On "New Friend Jesus" and "Western Pier" Finn introduces Jesus to his cast of scallywags and boozers. This isn't the Jesus of Dylan's early folk or 80's conversion period, but the road-trip buddy Jesus of fellow Minnesotans The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait". Finn has always been skilled at making human banality something magical and I appreciate his turn taking the magical into human banality.
The absolute highlights of Clear Heart Full Eyes isn't lyrical, but in the development of a completely new weapon for Finn; the old-school groove. The guitar refrain on "Terrified Eyes" and particularly the brilliant "Honolulu Blues" are fun and provide a fantastic home for Finn's lyrical style. This is pure fun and "Honolulu Blues", easily reminiscent of Big Star's No. 1 Record, has already found its way into my regular listening rotation. I would be remiss for not also mentioning Finn at his darkest. Closing the record with "Rented Room", "Balcony", and "Not Much Left Of Us", Craig sounds scarily lonely. He's channeling Vic Chesnutt here and it only proves further how good this guy is with the pen. If Clear Heart Full Eyes is any indication of Finn's career post-Hold Steady, I've already got my bags packed for the trip.
The 411: Most famed as the lead singer and songwriter of The Hold Steady, Craig Finn has become something of an elder statesman of rock music these days. With Clear Heart Full Eyes he wields that status like a weapon, letting each lyric drop with the significance of a psalm. I think I'd like a second helping of that Kool-Aid, Mr. Finn. This is a must listen for any Finn fan and worth checking out for everyone else.
