Pitchfork

When it's released sometime this year (soon, please), the Hold Steady's fourth LP, Stay Positive, will find its way to Stateside shelves once again from Vagrant Records.

However, unlike previous Hold Steady platters, Stay Positive will make a break for the UK and Europe thanks to a new licensing deal with Rough Trade. Why, here's an uncharacteristic quote from Hold Steady front-dude Craig Finn to sum up the process: "We are really excited to begin this relationship with Rough Trade. From the Smiths to the Strokes, they have consistently released music from great artists and we are honored to be a part of the roster. Rough Trade records have been part of my own collection since I started buying my own records in the early 1980s."

The Hold Steady themselves have big plans to head to the UK soon enough, with a brief May tour they'll kick off with their set at the ATP vs. Pitchfork festival. But before that, they'll hit Webster Hall as part of the Tribeca Film Festival and rock the hell out of Wesleyan University on May 7 at a students-only event. There are a few more U.S. dates sandwiched between yet another run in the UK in July, and another stop in the States in late July at Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party.

Still, if you're fiending, you'd be advised to catch Hold Steady member Franz Nicolay's Major General-- featuring Dresden Doll Brian Viglione, Yula Nanuchka, and Jared Demander-- when they open for Nicolay's favorite band American Music Club at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 26. Nicolay also appears on Jennifer O'Connor's next LP, due soonish from Matador.

The Hold Steady:

05-02 New York, NY - Webster Hall (Tribeca Film Festival) #
05-07 Middletown, CT - Andrus Field (students only)
05-11 Rye, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (ATP vs. Pitchfork festival) *
05-13 Dublin, Ireland - Academy
05-14 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring and Airbrake
05-16 Brighton, England - The Great Escape
06-27 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live !
06-28 Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier (Paul Green School of Rock Music Festival)
07-06 London, England - Hyde Park (O2 Wireless Festival)
07-08 Liverpool, England - Echo Arena (Summer Pops)
07-12 Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-26 Seattle, WA - Capitol Hill Block Party

# with the Virgins, Republic Tigers
! with Birds of Avalon
* with Jens Lekman, Caribou, Hot Chip, Les Savy Fav, No Age, Black Lips, Of Montreal, Man Man, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Atlas Sound, Glass Candy, Dirty Projectors, Times New Viking, Meat Puppets, Jay Reatard, the Black Angels, Marissa Nadler, Wooden Shjips, Girls Against Boys, Shit and Shine, Sebadoh, Ween, Redd Kross, Pissed Jeans, Yeasayer, Fuck Buttons, Apse, A Place to Bury Strangers, the Clientele, Black Mountain, Harmonia, Born Ruffians, Howlin Rain, Car Sick Cars, Even, Hot Chip DJs, Various Production