In previous posts that discussed the Gaslight Anthem, I talked primarily about the promise they showed on their debut LP. I emphasize promise, because that album is only 3/4 great and doesn’t back up the hyperbolic praise that the vast majority of their fans heaped upon it. Where the follow-up EP revealed even more of that promise, this is the album that finally fully delivers on it.
The band continues to pay tribute to it’s musical heroes in both tenor and tone; the subtle and overt nods to Springsteen are more evident than ever in the generally quieter and more subtly-distorted guitars and the compulsive story-telling the band uses as its hallmark.
The music is definitely more laid-back as a whole, with only a pair or so of the driving punk tracks that marked their early efforts. The slightly-echoed vocals go hand-in-hand with the chiming, cleaner-sounding guitars. Although singer/guitarist/songwriter Brian Fallon remains an expressive but limited singer, his gravelly tone suits every song in this set remarkably well without showing the strain that marked some of the “punker” songs on their debut. He seems to be attempting to cultivate a more soulful delivery, as is clearly evidenced in some of the cues in their recent set lists. Where he shines brightest is in constructing vivid imagery and tales of American folklore centering around ferris wheels, “outlaw cowboy bands,” and roadside diners.
My personal favourite examples of this can be found below. I’d call special attention to “Miles Davis and the Cool,” a track that’s spiritually reverential of Davis’ seminal album Birth of The Cool, that music serving as the backdrop for the shared experience of the song’s characters. I’ll be damned if I can explain why, but half the time I hear Fallon sing, “So I’ll lay a kiss on this stone/toss it upside your window by the roof/before you change your mind/Miles, bring in the cool” I end up nearly crying.
The explicit mention of Miles Davis is just the touchstone of another slew of tributes, nods, and “borrowing” on the band’s part. Davis, Tom Petty, the Counting Crows, Buddy Holly, more Springsteen, Dickens, Elvis, Casablanca, Tom Waits, and possibly more are all referenced in some fashion.
It may be little more than simple melodic rock with an old-school flourish, but this is the right album at the right time and it’s connecting with an immense audience right now. This could potentially be one of the defining albums of the 00’s.
Only time will tell.
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