Did you know that the new Hold Steady album came with a free comic in some stores? No stores around here, though. Considering that quantities were super-limited and it’s two weeks since they were probably all snatched up anyway, I’m going to assume that no one is going to get their feathers too ruffled if I make available scans of the comic – the only format that I was able to find it in. The file is in a .cbr format, which you can read with an app like this or you can just change the extension to .rar and uncompress it that way – it’s just a set of JPGs inside. And if that’s too much trouble, I also have it up as a simple .zip. Anyway, the comic is cute, just interpretations (both literal and not so much) of Craig Finn’s lyrics to Boys And Girls In America, done pictograph style.

The Hold Steady continue to garner headlines – The Minnesapolis Star-Tribune and The Seattle Times talk to the band about the influence of Kerouac on the new record (besides providing the album title) while Craig Finn tells The Straight that he’d rather talk about baseball.

There’s also a new live version of “Stuck Between Stations” up for grabs on the band’s website, taken from a radio session for Minneapolis Public Radio. The band is in their studios again today so look for that session to be made available soon after. If you couldn’t tell, I’m really enjoying Boys And Girls In America. It’s always over before I know it, which is usually a good sign that it’s burrowing its way into my skull for the long haul. Got your ticket for the Hold Steady show at the Horseshoe Saturday? You really should.

Comic: Boys And Girls In America (5.13 MB) (.zip)
MP3: The Hold Steady – “Stuck Between Stations” (live on MPR)

Another Minneapolis native dude from the frigid north of America moved to New York getting some attention is Chuck Klosterman, who has a new book out in Chuck Klosterman IV : A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas. PopMatters and Glide both interview the author and (pop) cultural observer.

Now that Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are releasing records as “Dean and Britta” (versus “Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham”, as L’Avventura was credited), I’m not sure where I should be filing their CDs in my collection. Under D, as if the name is read literally? Under W, as if it should if put under “Wareham”? Under “P”, so that it sits nicely against the other album? YES I AM THAT ANAL. But that’s not your problem. The new Words You Used To Say EP is out – somewhere – and the album Back Numbers will be out January 30. So I have until then to figure this one out.

The Dears have added two more shows to their long weekend at Lee’s Palace in November. In addition to playing the 16th and 17th with Land Of Talk, they have now scheduled a double-header for the 18th – a dry, all-ages matinee performance and a properly liquored-up evening show. There’s also a new video from Gang Of Losers. Grok it now.

Video: The Dears – “Whites Only Party” (MOV)

M Ward is the latest artist to record a session for AOL’s Interface. The podcast features three performances and an interview.

The DePaulia asks Feist, “What’s a Mushaboom”?

Bradley’s Almanac comes through with a recording of Broken Social Scene’s show last week at Brandeis University in Boston. Note the Beantown shout out cover of Dinosaur Jr’s “The Wagon”. Good and sloppy, just like J’d want. But cut them some slack, it’s been a while since those Broken Mascis Scene shows. Less slack, however, should be allowed if reports like some of those cropping up at Stereogum are to be believed. Check out the review of the Knoxville show, in particular, 28 comments down. Bizarre doesn’t even begin to cover it.

np – Tanya Donelly / This Hungry Life