Music Disc Reviews

Separation Sunday Frenchkiss Music •••½ Sound ••••

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn is the raconteur at the end of the bar whose jokes are worth sticking around for. The former leader of the Minneapolis-based Lifter Puller has relocated and ignited the Brooklyn scene with two albums of visceral social commentary. His favorite subject is women who are mostly speed-freaks, looking to religion to calm their minds. On paper, Finn is a smart-guy poet, but the guitars striking anthemic power chords make him the rocker of his dreams.