After last night’s show in Milwaukee, The Hold Steady make their way to Madison tonight for the second show of a two night stint in Wisconsin. Playing the small and intimate setting of the Orpheum Stage Door, those lucky enough to get tickets will certainly be treated to a night to remember.

Last week while spending a lot of time on the subway system in New York City taking trains uptown and downtown I re-acquainted myself with an old friend, The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me. Sometimes, when a band releases two equally amazing records since, Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls In America, it’s easy to overlook the brilliance of their debut.

Almost Killed Me was the first record by The Hold Steady that I ever heard, but it was the second one I ever owned. I can still remember the party on Oakland Avenue in Milwaukee, at a girl’s house whose name is long forgotten. She played that record loud as everyone devoured food and what was left of a keg of beer sometime in the wee-hours of a Milwaukee morning. The next day, and with a hurting head, I drug myself over to Atomic Records, and bought Separation Sunday. While it wasn’t the record I thought I was buying I couldn’t complain.

Check back tomorrow for our review of the show, but until then check out these two highlights from Almost Killed Me:

MP3: The Hold Steady – Knuckles
MP3: The Hold Steady – The Swish
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Myspace: The Hold Steady
MP3: The Hold Steady – Your Little Hoodrat Friend
MP3: The Hold Steady – Killer Parties Remix