No relatively new band has captured my heart in the past 5 years more than The Hold Steady. With albums like Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America, the band's mashing of bar band attitude and arena rock grandeur literally made my adrenaline run every time I listened to them. I dare you to listen to the first 45 seconds of Stuck Between Stations while driving down the highway and obey the speed limit.

They weren't just full of catchy hooks; instead, lead singer Craig Finn created an intricate brand of storytelling with characters that constantly reappeared over the course of the band's first 3 albums. He was the midwest gutter-rat punk to Springsteen's blue collar, desperate for a change Jersey boy.

The band's fourth album, Stay Positive, released this past June, continues in the vein of the previous 3 records, to both good and bad effect. Good because this band has a knack for writing songs with gigantic, feel good choruses, even if what they're singing about shouldn't be making anyone feel good. Bad because this is the fourth album where they're singing about the same things as they were on the first.

It starts off positively enough with the discordant and charging punk of Constructive Summer, before jumping off into the bouncy rhythm and piano driven first single Sequestered in Memphis. On my first listen to this album, I was convinced after these two songs they had made another masterpiece. Not so much.

The types of ballads that gave Boys and Girls in America it's depth and the listener a welcome break from the band's usual formula are nowhere to be found here. The ballads on Stay Positive are detached and boring. At best, they're the worst songs on the record. At worst, they make the record nearly impossible to listen to. One For the Cutters employs a harpsichord. I can deal with experimentation, but a harpsichord is one of those things that just has never worked for a rock and roll band (save for maybe, MAYBE the Beatles). Meanwhile, Both Crosses is so dour and empty of life that it literally sucks the life and breath out of the listener. It is a depressing song that has zero vitality to it. Only Lord, I'm Discouraged, with a fiery and soulful guitar solo powering it towards previous heights, manages to work.

The band recreates some of their own songs from previous albums. The "whoa oh oh"s on the title track are a lame attempt at recreating the pure energy and spirit that was found on the previous album, while Navy Sheets and Yeah Sapphire take pop culture reference to absurd lengths.

Finn's lyrics continue to reference the same tired characters in spots, and his love for Springsteen, always obvious, has just gotten old. We get it Craig, you love Bruce. That doesn't mean you have to create obscure references to his work in nearly every song you write.

The album ends on a high note, with the reggae influenced Joke About Jamaica and the arena ready anthem Slapped Actress.

I wouldn't say I hate Stay Positive, but I would say that I can't see myself reaching for it regularly in 2 years the way I do with Boys and Girls in America. This band has seemingly hit a wall with what they can do well, and until they can climb over that wall, the best new band of the decade will indeed find themselves Stuck Between Stations.