More than any other track on the album, "Knuckles" shows what makes the Hold Steady different. The one liners, the pop culture references, the crunchy guitars. The quips and the catalog of missed expectations are enough to fill a couple podcast episodes.

But there's more to the song than Craig Finn's comedy routine. Matt Brooks rejoins co-hosts Mike Taylor and Daniel Shvartsman, to discuss key themes - Knuckles’ political context and whether this is a protest song; the dissonance between the narrator's view of himself and what other people think; Craig Finn’s lyrical techniques; and the jagged synth lines that fall alongside the lyrics like bits of confetti.

Most importantly, we take a beat to consider the classic Sunny D commercial and how that puts The Hold Steady on the map.

Check out the full show notes here: https://shortmanstudios.com/a-positive-jam-track-6-knuckles/