The Gaslight Anthem

All the early signs were there to suggest that I was going to like this band.

Their album The 59 Sound starts with the sound of a needle catching on a vinyl album before launching into Great Expectations, a frantic little rock n’ roll song laden with jangling guitars and lyrics about a girl named Mary, listening to the radio and cars as a metaphor for escape. Only calling the song Thunder Road would have been more  of an obvious enticement to this particular audience member.

Not surprising this four piece are from Jersey and the influences that are immediately apparent are a rather comforting collection.

Much has been made of the Springsteen influence and, yes, it is undeniable all the way through to a couple of direct lyrical references and quite a few more that closely resemble some thing you feel like you might have heard before.

“I always dreamed of classic cars and movie scenes/ And trying to find some way to be redeemed” – Old White Lincoln.

But it would be lazy to simply mark them down as Springsteen clones. For a start their music is pretty much all guitar bass and drums, there’s certainly none of the instrumental textures found in the E Street armoury.

I think it’s a fair bet to suggest that there are a few other albums in these guys collective record collection – The Replacements, The Smithereens, Wire Train, Soul Asylum, Semisonic, early Cure and The Caulfields probably all got some airplay in New Brunswick, New Jersey bedrooms as these guys were growing up,

Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that.

Apparently the label that releases this, the bands second album, is primarily a punk label and there’s just a hint of that aesthetic in these guys but they are clearly a long way removed from being a punk band.

Where the Springsteen influence is most noticeable and most welcome is in the lyrics written by lead singer Brian Fallon. There are plenty of familiar Jersey shore references and they could easily be regarded as “Jersey clichés” if it wasn’t for the fact that now – just as they were when Springsteen wrote about them – an accurate word picture of the place. It’s a unique place on the American East Coast landscape and it simply provides great fodder for rock n’ roll. Every rock geek needs to make that pilgrimage at least once.

Brian Fallon is a hopeless romantic and a authentic disciple of rock n’ roll as a redemptive force and while that may seem a little idealistic to anyone over 25 and over jaded, its hard to avoid finding yourself cheering for Fallon and his cast of lost souls, lonely hearts and true believers. Sure, they are going to find out the truth eventually but I’m happy to let them dream a while.

I’m going to be interested to see where The Gaslight Anthem story leads. At this point there is a slight formula at work in their songs and to fulfil their potential they are going to have to find a few more musical dimensions, but the potential is there as displayed by the more subdued Here’s Looking At You Kid.

Along with The Hold Steady, The Gaslight Anthem represent a new strain of rock n’ roll bands that fans of older rock n’ roll bands can adopt without feeling old. And that has to be a good thing right?