There's a cliché in popular music about a band member getting too big for his britches and dramatically and huffily announcing that he's "going solo!" It's become a running gag, this idea that a musician would be so cocky as to quit a successful band to go and do his own thing before, inevitably, crawling back to beg his former band mates for reentry.

In the case of Franz Nicolay, I think it's safe to say that this cliché fails to hold water.

Last year, Nicolay announced that he would be leaving wordy arena-rock heroes, the Hold Steady, in order to pursue a solo career, citing a feeling that he had done all he could in that band. Listening to his solo debut, Master General, and its follow-up, Luck and Courage, there are certain moments where you could see a song fitting in perfectly with the Hold Steady's cannibalistic rock ethos, such as Major General's opener and standout, the Dead Kennedys-worshiping "Jeff Penalty."

Read the full story, including an interview with Nicolay, here.

Franz Nicolay

With David Dondero and Curt Terry
Saturday, April 2, 9 p.m.
O'Malley's Irish Pub, 2403 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.383.3144