Nothing gets discussion going quicker than proclaiming a band is the best. This week, we make the case for the Hold Steady reigning supreme over all of American rock — but what do you think?

Who is the best rock band in America?

In the voice-over booth, John Norris had his own ideas ...

Whether being subpoenaed in Texas or sequestered in Memphis, the Hold Steady have been raging across the country in support of their most recent release, Stay Positive, leaving a trail of empty Pabst cans and thoroughly rocked faces in their wake.

Wednesday night in Hollywood was no exception, as we were treated to nearly two hours of inclusion rock that featured all the tracks off of the best album of 2008 so far. In a preshow interview, frontman Craig Finn said it best: “We want each show to be a celebratory experience” — and celebrate we did. Feel free to pump your fist as you read the remainder of this entry.

In the aforementioned interview, the band had explained just how finely tuned its set list has become over the years, so there was much anticipation in the air as even the oldest fans were excited to see how a new album would work into the mix. The show appropriately opened with “Constructive Summer,” the first track on Stay Positive, which lyrically set the tone for the rest of the night. “Constructive,” of course, is a relative term to Hold Steady fans, who know that time spent getting wasted is far from wasted time.

Read the rest of this post on the You R Here blog …