The Hold Steady

Even though the Hold Steady have won accolades as the "best bar band in America," the distinction is a slightly hopeful misnomer -- we should be so lucky to have every barroom outfit aspire to the raging, literate wail of the Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis group. Started by former Lifter Puller frontman Craig Finn in 2000, the band's muscular riffs (courtesy of fellow Lifter Puller alum Tad Kubler) demonstrate an admiration of '70s guitar warriors like AC/DC and Thin Lizzy. But every bit as crucial to the band's inimitable sound are Finn's badass, beer-soaked confessionals, which rage against the mundane trials of modern life through the trifurcate of rock 'n' roll's classic escape routes: sex, drugs and distorted guitars.