Prior to July, if you had asked any three Hold Steady fans what the best Hold Steady album was, there was a good chance that all three would have different answers and very valid reasons for their answers.

Almost Killed Me is a raw bloodied beast of a record, bridging the gap between post punk and classic rock; Separation Sunday is almost a slacker opera, a suggestion at the epic tendencies to come; and Boys And Girls In America is a loud, slick realisation of those tendencies, The Hold Steady embracing all the different facets of what makes them one of the last true rock n’ roll bands on the planet.

With the release of their fourth album, Stay Positive, there is now a very good chance that asking the same question to four fans would yield four different answers.
Still, it is a little surprising, given the phenomenal respect their previous three outings have earned, when guitarist Tad Kubler says: “I think all of us would agree that it’s the best thing we’ve ever done.”

Really? The incredulity represents no slight towards the new record. But, really?

“As a band you try to grow a bit with each record and this was the logical next step for us, in terms of songwriting,” says Kubler. “I mean, I like all of them. They’re all kinda different. Musically, this is a lot more ambitious. I think we took some chances and tried some stuff that we hadn’t in the past. We didn’t want to make the same record. It’s certainly my favourite but we’ll tour it for the next year and then I’ll probably never want to hear it again. I’ll be like: ‘let’s play some stuff off the first record.’”

For the as-yet uninitiated, The Hold Steady are five ordinary guys who make an extraordinary noise. They approach rock n’ roll in a way that many have compared to Springsteen but, in actual fact, it is all their own. The Springsteen comparison, however, is a common one.

“Really?” Kubler laughs, “I’ve never heard that before in my life. What are you talking about? One thing about the Springsteen comparison that I think has been overlooked is that it’s not necessarily a musical influence. I mean, anyone who likes rock n’ roll is going to be influenced by Springsteen in one form or another. But I think that when people compare us, it’s more that people root for us as five normal guys trying to make it in a rock band, like rooting for the underdog. There isn’t a lot of pretence to what we do, it’s all pretty honest and that’s where the similarity is. We can hop up on stage pretty much anywhere, whether it’s in front of 20 people or 20,000 people and hopefully captivate people and get everyone involved. I think the fun we have on stage is pretty contagious.”

Kubler is not exaggerating. Whether it’s crammed onto the Borderline’s stage, Kubler’s glasses fogging up with the heat, blowing away a packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire or converting the masses at any one of a number of summer festivals, The Hold Steady are always having a good time. Even playing ‘Stuck Between Stations’ on the Letterman show, the band are sharing a giant grin.

“I’d like to think that you put all those people in a room together and they all experience the joy, the congregation and the unity of it,” says Kubler, “Jeff Tweedy once said it’s what he imagined church was supposed to be like. I think that’s a simple but very articulate way of describing what a rock show is like.”

The church comparison is an apt one for a band whose music regularly features highly religious imagery amongst the regular cast of drugged up kids, hoodrats and punks. “Craig grew up Catholic,” says Kubler, “as did Galen. Craig would say he’s religious but not spiritual whereas I would say I’m spiritual but not religious. It’s our dichotomy, the house of cards that is The Hold Steady. Whatever Craig says, I just want to disagree.

“I’m kidding, I gotta watch what I say because I say stuff in jest and then I get in trouble. In print, the sarcasm doesn’t always come across as you’d like it to. My Mom will ask ‘Did you really say that?’ and I’ll be like ‘No, I was kidding. And by the way Mom, stay off the internet.’ But, it’s definitely part of Craig’s everyday thing and part of his whole life. Some people say that our songs are really dark but I’ve never looked at it that way in a lyrical sense. What I get from the songs is that you can’t have salvation without a sin. It’s good people in bad situations trying to get somewhere better.”

In the midst of protest songs and snotty, pissed-off indie kids stand The Hold Steady. The band’s songs tell it how it is, they don’t sugar coat anything but they never ever say that there is no way out. Stay Positive is true to its name; these might not be the happiest tales in the world but there is the pervading suggestion of the light at the end of the tunnel. “There is so much music out there that is just so morose,” Kubler says, “let’s face it, the world, and specifically the US, is in such a shit state of affairs. It’s a lot more creative and a lot harder work to find something to stay positive about.”

Boys And Girls In America unleashed The Hold Steady on a wider audience than anybody could have foreseen. The success took the band themselves by surprise. When they played Shepherd’s Bush Empire last year, Finn addressed the fans on the higher tiers, telling them not to be offended if they thought he wasn’t paying enough attention to them. “I’m just not used to you being there,” he said. Stay Positive is the first album the band has made with a sizeable fanbase baying for the final product. But that hasn’t changed the band, their methods or their beliefs in any way.

“We started this band with such little ambition and such low expectations,” Kubler says, “There wasn’t anything else we wanted to do other than just use it as an excuse to hang out together. As time has gone by, to see where we are today just seems ridiculous. The only expectation we’ve ever had is to always enjoy doing what we’re doing. Because of our ages, we’ve been able to appreciate the experiences and opportunities. To do another record on the fumes of one that was a lot more successful than we could have ever planned on it being wasn’t really pressure. It was more like: ‘Right, now we’ve got everybody’s attention. If you liked that, check this out!’”