Since their formation in 2004, the Hold Steady has been a unique rock group from Brooklyn, New York. They’ve collaborated on 6 albums– their most recent of which, Teeth Dreams, which was released on March 25.

Beloved throughout the country for their songs that tell intricate stories that make commentaries on American society, their tasteful fusion of catchy drum beats and powerful guitar influence and the distinct voice of front man Craig Finn, The Hold Steady has made more and more noise since their coming together. However, they didn’t help themselves very much with Teeth Dreams.

While the album started off in vintage Hold Steady fashion with the song “I hope This Whole Thing Didn’t Frighten You,” which told an interesting story about shame in friendship and is bound to bob some heads with the second track, “Spinners,” which has been featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers and the Late Show with David Letterman, such adherence to ‘Steady style was what constricted this album the most.

Perhaps the song with the most meaning on the entire album was the third track, “The Only Thing.” Throughout the track, Finn sings the lyrics “Last night I saw her teeth in my dreams,” which explains the album’s title, and is a paraphrase of a portion of the late David Foster Wallace’s book Infinite Jest, which profiles American sadness. And, such American sadness, specifically in the meaninglessness of excessive consumerism, was profiled in a later track entitled “On With the Business.”

However, the stories told became hard to follow because the music grew monotonous, with repetitive guitar riffs and drum patterns. And, the last song of the track was a marathon– over 9 minutes long with the last three minutes purely instrumental.

The track “Almost Everything” was a breath of fresh air, however. Heavily acoustic with folk characteristics, this song was the one instance in the album when THS deviated from their traditional style– and it worked.

2.5/5 Stars