After a relatively quiet 2007 that saw only the release of the Live At Fingerprints EP, anthem-slingers The Hold Steady have announced the release date of their fourth album, Stay Positive–and that date would be July 15. The disc will follow up the band's thoroughly excellent 2006 full-length, Boys And Girls In America. Says leader Craig Finn, Stay Positive will feature "more dynamics, different instrumentation, more complex arrangements, and not always hiding behind raw volume." Perhaps a bit drunk on the group's admittedly awesome everydude mythmaking, Finn also boasted, "In talking to [our fans], we have found that no matter their ages, they are so much like us as people that they seem at times an extension of the music. A great American philosopher named D. Boon once said 'Our band could be your life.' I think that is true. But 'Your life could be our band' is also a true statement. I know this because we have lived it. These are our lives. These are your lives." Indeed–buy the new Hold Steady and celebrate the moments of your life.
And on that note, here's a golden Hold Steady oldie: