There are very few rock-and-roll singers as immediately recognizable as The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn. He possesses a worn-out storyteller’s voice, talk-singing his way through tales about hard-luck characters trying their best but never quite getting it right. But the band’s other players are, frankly, just as iconic (if midwestern bar rock is your scene)—and over the years, the mostly Minneapolis-bred musicians have learned how to capitalize on all of their strengths. On their ninth album, The Price of Progress, fans of The Hold Steady get exactly what they paid for: Finn’s hopeful but sad-eyed narration, Tad Kubler’s big, brash guitars, Bobby Drake’s meat-and-potatoes rock drumming and Franz Nicolay’s ever[1]creative keys. They also get some extra treats: for a band that’s really created a tried-and-true sound, The Price of Progress finds The Hold Steady stretching out—even if just a bit. Take “Understudies,” a tune about a gang of actors disappearing into the night after a big performance. A story about folks wandering around a city at night is certainly well-trad territory for The Hold Steady, but the music here helps build some mystery—clattering keys come front and center, paired with an elastic bassline and dark, pummeling drums. This could’ve been another barroom rock song, but the band’s more stylized touch helps the story come to life. “Carlos Is Crying” is similarly tweaked; as Nicolay’s keys quiver, some harmonica and playful hand drums serve as great backdrops while Carlos freaks out about his missing sister and his life falling apart. “Carlos is crying/ Because he didn’t tell his girlfriend/ That he stopped showing up at his job in the morning,” Finn sings. “All I can say is/ I love you/ I feel you/ I’m sorry you’re hurting.” The Hold Steady don’t reinvent the wheel here—they’ve found new ways to keep it spinning.