Gettin' nerdy about Seperation Sunday

These days I live with my parents, in a big modern house in Cottesloe, which is near the beach, close-ish to Fremantle. Every day, pretty much without fail, I drive at least once to and from the 'inner-city' area where traditionally I live, where my friends live, where the bookstore is and where the venues I frequent are. In the middle of the night, when there are no cars on the road, this takes me about 20 minutes, this drive. In the afternoon, when mothers in shiny gas-guzzlers are picking up their darlings from school, it can take me close to 40 minutes. Basically, I am spending more time driving these days than I ever have before.

In my car for the last couple of weeks I have been listening to very little else but one album, which I borrowed from Jackson and which I have come to know intimately, and to love, greatly. The album is Seperation Sunday by The Hold Steady. There hasn't been a record which has featured so strongly in my life in recent history. It is crucial, you understand.

Nick says it sounds like bad 90s rock, like Everclear. He begs me to turn it off. I often do, because I am a fantastic guy, and I understand where he's coming from, in a way. But as soon as he's out of the car, it's on again.

One of the very great things about it, perhaps the very greatest thing, is the way the songs all weave together, stacked as they are with shared images and themes, with recurring characters and settings. The album itself cannot possibly be seen merely as a collection of songs, but as a whole document, a portrait of a scene. Its a literary work about religion and addiction and being down and out in Minneapolis. It's huge and sprawling and beautiful.

Today I sat and tried to map out all the songs and their contents. This is one of the most useless things I have ever done and was harder than I thought it would be, but for your interest (or despite your lack thereof) I have included, below, a list:

Number of songs on Seperation Sunday, out of 11, which obviously deal with drug use, dealing, addiction or rehab: 9
Number which mention bible stories or Christianity: 10
Number which mention skaters, hoodrats or punks: 5 +
Number which refer to being "born again" or to a resurrection: 5
Number which refer to saints (Saint Theresa, Saint Barbara etc), or to the US city Saint Paul: 4
Number in which a drug dealer named Charlemagne is a character: 2
Number in which Holly (short for Halleluilah) is named as a character: 5
Number of songs which I think are actually about Holly, if you consider that Holly is actually the often mentioned hoodrat friend: 9 to 11
Number which mention the Mississippi River, or camps which are on its banks: 3

et cetera.

I love this band, you see.
Ah, you know what? Just ignore me, and this post completely.

www.theholdsteady.com