REVIEWS should try to be level-headed, but never mind all that. How fantastic is this band?

The Hold Steady have a winning quality that wafts the listener a few inches off the ground on a gust of cacophonous joy. The uplift comes from a musical formula that is simple enough: rock music performed by two guitars, bass and drums – with additional piano, courtesy of Franz Nicolay and his amazing twirled moustache.

Add to this Craig Finn’s husky, shouted vocal delivery of spikey conversational lyrics, and you have The Hold Steady, or at least the kernel of this five-piece Brooklyn band.

Of many treasured characteristics, perhaps the greatest is the sheer enjoyment the band has in its own music, the noisy verve of it all, as displayed on the DVD that comes with this live album, recorded on a US tour to promote the album Boys And Girls In America.

Many of the songs offer a thirtysomething recall of teenage years, marrying adult sensibilities to the messy, all-consuming angst of growing up. Massive Nights is a perfect example, but so too are most of the 17 tracks here, often characterised by rousing choruses, as on Southtown Girls, or sometimes old parental advice, twisted back (Girls Like Status).

Also pervading through everything is a strong shot of Catholicism, washed through with sport, sweat and beer, but hardly diluted for all that, and strongly reminiscent at times of Springsteen.

Like most live albums, the sound quality occasionally dips, but any lapse is more than compensated for by the glorious racket.

New fans could happily hop on at this stop, although last year’s Stay Positive might provide an easier boarding card.