Embedded Player The Hold Steady is led by a very wordy, not-so-great singer named Craig Finn. The group's latest CD is Boys and Girls in America — a title taken from a line by Jack Kerouac. The line goes, "Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together." Critic Robert Christgau says that despite the band sounding a bit more like Bruce Springsteen, the characters are strong and indeed quite sad.