I haven't been this excited about a band since I first listened to Appetite for Destruction.
The Gaslight Anthem, a quartet from New Jersey, is the next band to save Rock N’ Roll. Give any one of their albums a listen and you will be aching for more. Brian Fallon is a superb vocalist. He's got that rough growl style voice, and can handle a guitar as well. Alex Rosamilia is credited with guitar duties also, but not lead. Rosamilia plays riffs, and he plays the hell out of them. Alex Levine plays a solid bass and the other half of the rhythm section, Benny Horowitz, masters the drums. Together, Levine and Horowitz create a powerful and reliable foundation while Rosamilia and Fallon add the sugar, spice, and everything nice. They have been classified as punk, but their work has really torn down the labeling barrier. The debris and rubble left over is The Gaslight Anthem.
Besides the sound, TGA have some of the strongest lyrics in contemporary music. The lyricism is one reason TGA have been compared to Bruce Springsteen (the other being they both hail from New Jersey). Their words tell stories, much like the words of Springsteen. You not only hear words when you listen to these songs, you feel them. You identify with the protagonist and cheer for victory. It is a gift passed down by acts like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to commiserate with and inspire the “every-man”. TGA opened that gift, embraced it, and put it over the raw energy of The Clash while bringing in a fresh and youthful element.
I suggest listening to their work in the order it was released. First is Sink or Swim. This is the album that gave TGA the punk label. The sound is aggressive and the musicianship is relentless. These songs are short (the longest clocking in at 3:45), but have so much to say. “And tonight the coast line is quiet, it's quieter than it's ever been/Honey this town is a prison, with its four walls closing in/And they got one pill to make you smaller, they one pill to make you scream/Darling this heart is on fire, and this life is but a dream,” Fallon howls on “Wooderson”. When you’re looking to slow things down, there are two great acoustic gems on Swim. While “Red at Night” is the stronger of the two, don’t skip over “The Navesink Banks” because it is a great listen as well.
Second on the list (skipping the well crafted EP Senor and the Queen) is the incredible The ’59 Sound. In my humble opinion, this is TGA’s best album. Every song will be stuck in your head. The lyricism is phenomenal and TGA’s influences shine through brightly. “Great Expectations” opens the album with a little left over juice from Swim while the rest of the album finds a different energy. “Meet Me by the River’s Edge” sounds like a song Springsteen forgot to record, and the fragile “Here’s Looking at You, Kid” will melt even the coldest of hearts. Don’t miss “Film Noir” (“But nobody never gonna tell you the way/You gotta figure it out boys/And suffer the rain, and the fools in the night, and the heat of the day/When all you ever really wanted was for someone to understand”), and if you purchase the album from Itunes, you will get a bonus cover of Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise’s “Once Upon a Time”.
Now we get to the most recent effort by TGA, American Slang. Yet again, the band manages to recreate their sound but does not lose their artistic integrity. You may have to listen to this one multiple times though. The first time you will wonder if this is the same band on Sink or Swim. The second listen will comfort your doubting mind, and any further listens will welcome American Slang to the family. The title track has a stealthy intro leading into powerful vocals and a catchy chorus. “The Diamond Church Street Choir” is a light tune with a cool doo-wop guitar riff. “Old Haunts” delivers a meaningful message, while “Boxer” opens with some bouncy lyrics, “Got your pride and your prose/Tucked just like a tommy gun/Somewhere in the smoke/Just in case you need it.” The rest of the tracks are commendable, but I still skip over “The Queen of Lower Chelsea” from time to time. Also, I want to like “We Did It When We Were Young”, and if it were done acoustically, I probably would.
The Gaslight Anthem is here to stay. With a collection of evolving work and so much to offer today’s young music lovers, TGA will rejuvenate Rock. They’ve already gotten to me, a twenty-year old who’s last musical thrill was discovering Guns N’ Roses. Needless to say, the wait was well worth it.
