New The Hold Steady Out July, Streaming Now

I never really understood the hype and love surrounding The Hold Steady's 2006 release Boys and Girls in America, but many of you loved it. At least those of you who write reviews did (91 AV Club, 90 Paste, 100 The Guardian).

Well, the band is back again with Stay Positive, their fourth studio release due out July. Before you have the choice to drop some money on the album though you can listen to the whole thing on their MySpace. I'm actually going to give this a real try, but only a couple songs in and I'm still left unimpressed.

The Hold Steady will be playing at the McCarren Pool for a free show as part of JELLYNYC's Pool Parties on June 29 (site doesn't look like it's been updated since last year). You can find a schedule of events (free and otherwise) for the summer at the McCarren Pool site. Death Cab is actually playing today, but for $42.