Gaslight Anthem
(SideOneDummy)
It's hard to think of another young band as ambitious and downright audacious as Gaslight Anthem. Both their debut full-length Sink or Swim and the follow-up EP Senor And The Queen embraced a big, earnest sound that was equal parts punk rock and classic soul; Springsteen comparisons are a dime-a-dozen these days, but these guys actually deserve it, far more than Arcade Fire or even the Hold Steady, as much for vocalist/guitarist's Brian Fallon's wild and innocent vocals as for the band's unabashed belief that rock and roll is a life-or-death proposition.
On The '59 Sound, Gaslight Anthem embrace life by facing death head-on, most notably in the title track, on which Fallon wonders what a fallen comrade heard-gospel choirs? rattling chains? his favorite song?-when his spirit left his body, concluding with the declaration "young boys, young girls ain't supposed to die on a Saturday night." Ghosts haunt the whole record, whether the literal ghosts of the dead, the memories of lost loves, or the echoes of 50 years of popular music. It takes a whole lot of chutzpah to fill an album with lyrical references to Springsteen, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, Tom Waits, Otis Redding, and even Miles Davis, but Fallon's doing more than name-dropping - he's honoring his musical ancestors by invoking their words and spirits.
The music's as thrilling as the lyrics are heartbreaking. It's carnival punk with slicing and chiming guitars driving every song save for the loping country shuffle "Here's Looking at You, Kid." That's the only sonic respite on an album that's unrelentingly fierce, that demands sweat and tears and leaves you feeling spent and breathless and heart-poundingly alive.
Standout Tracks: "The '59 Sound," "High Lonesome" ERIC SCHUMACHER-RASMUSSEN
