The Hold Steady has maintained a devout fan base since growing out of the legend of Minneapolis rock band Lifter Puller, and lead singer/firebrand Craig Finn makes it easy to understand why. His style trades on patently singular vocal screeds that siphon added power when the rock gears turn higher and looser, as they do on last year’s breakout Boys And Girls In America. Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos spits acidic observations like a post-punk Ray Davies, baiting hipsters with lines like “I can’t stand the sound of The Velvet Underground” while the band behind him sloshes and slams between The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys. This year’s It’s A Bit Complicated doesn’t exactly live up to its title, as Argos and his group continue on their sardonic pop path with a similar smirk. Glasgow’s 1990s sure makes a playful, crowd-pleasing racket—the kind of pleasantly ramshackle garage-y pop (similar to leader Jackie McKeown’s former group The Yummy Fur) that surely gets even better onstage.

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