After taking some time away from the band to record a moodier, more roots-oriented solo album, Craig Finn has reunited with his Hold Steady bandmates and released a punchy new single today, "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You," as a lead-up to their forthcoming Teeth Dreams.

"We were looking to make a big rock record," Finn told Rolling Stone. "Maybe it's less wild but in some ways that makes it a bigger record.”

Teeth Dreams is due out March 25 and will be the first release on Razor & Tie's new imprint, Washington Square Records. It's the first album the band has recorded with guitarist Steve Selvidge, who replaced Franz Nicolay in the touring lineup in 2010—and it's a change that's evident in the lead single, as Nicolay's jangly and upbeat keyboard parts have been traded in for hooky, powerhouse guitar riffs that hearken back to early Foo Fighters.

In addition to the new Teeth Dreams (is that a reference to the common recurring dream about a person's teeth falling out? What's that supposed to mean again?), the Hold Steady went into the studio last month to record a covers EP, RAGS. No word yet on the timing of that one, but the band is planning to release the EP directly to the fans who helped them fund its recording.

And for even more Hold Steady-related goodness, don't forget to peep this recent interview with Craig Finn by college contributor KT Lindemann, in which the frontman reminisces about reviewing albums for his college newspaper in the early 1990s. If you could somehow separate the musician from the former music journalist, I wonder what Finn would write about this new Hold Steady release?

Listen to the first single off Teeth Dreams, "I Hope This Whole Thing Didn't Frighten You":

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