12/24/2022 0 Comments The gaslight anthem the 59 soundBut the prospect of honoring The ’59 Sound and everything it did for their lives, and did to the lives of their fans, lit a spark for the members of The Gaslight Anthem. The band that just five years earlier was on track to achieving every rock band’s Camron Crowe, Almost Famous dreams decided that Neil Young might be wrong, that it might in fact be better to fade away than burn out. The Gaslight Anthem, everyone’s favorite underdogs in 2009, somehow became the favorite punching bag for every writer, blogger and tweeter who either had a bone to pick about everything from the Springsteen comparisons to the band’s songwriting (too nostalgic) all which stemmed from leaning into pre-packaged narratives and refusing to commit the proper critical listening attention.Īfter almost 10 years of life on the road - which was growing ever more demanding from physical, emotional and spiritual endurance as well as time away from burgeoning families - Fallon’s divorce, and the pressure of being “The Gaslight Anthem,” Brian, Alex, Alex and Benny decided to hang it up after Reading. In 2012, New York Times Magazine dubbed Fallon the true, “heir-apparent of Bruce Springsteen.” As the roar and size of the crowds grew, so too did the pressure from all sides and the sting of the critic’s pen. People clambered for that heart and the resonance it brought the community it created.īetween 20, the group recorded three more albums and toured relentless, evolving from thumb-your-nose, wizened punks to elder statesmen of the rock world, carrying and even embodying some of the classic rock lineages. The rock world’s attention was on these four punks from Jersey and it met a band that didn’t wear its heart so much on its sleeve as it had its heart grafted onto its arm with black ink and crimson blood. Springsteen even joined them onstage during a string of festival dates to play the title track. Within a year of The ’59 Sound’s release, the group would go from playing tiny clubs and bars to a hundred people, at best, to headlining some of the most iconic rock clubs across the States. The other members of the group, guitarist Alex Rosamalia, bassist Alex Levine and drummer Benny Horowitz, drew on their shared love of old soul, folk and country to expand the sound of the Gaslight Anthem into something that synthesized the roots of rock n roll into something familiar but refreshing like the discoveries you glean from new mixtape of your favorite songs. On The ’59 Sound, released just a year late, Fallon leaned into his love of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and other singer-poets of the folk revival heritage. It’s first album Sink or Swim (2007) reflected as much. The Gaslight Anthem was forged in the fires of the New Brunswick punk scene, drawing influence from British progenitors like The Clash, the bruised, midwestern bash and pop of the Replacements and the fierce individuality of Washington, D.C. It’s also the last song on the last album the members of the Gaslight Anthem recorded when their lives were still normal. During these moments, The ’59 Sound is mercifully elevated from a covers night at the Stone Pony.The final song The Gaslight Anthem performed at Reading, what could have been the band’s swan song, was “The Backseat,” an anthem of striving and survival as much as it is a declaration of the group’s place in the lineage of Jersey shore street poets. “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” is also a gem, with Fallon varying his vocal delivery, giving a shout-out to “Tom Petty songs” and allowing an insistent electric guitar to share the spotlight. Which makes the carefree “Casanova, Baby!” such a pleasure the Gaslight Anthem finally stops playing to the stadium, resulting in a positively joyous, catchy rock ’n’ roll song. Fatigue ensues from the relentless stream of common-man clichés, delivered in the most vocally bombastic way possible. Heightening the effect, frontman Brian Fallon favors Bruce Springsteen’s everyman bellow, pushed way too high in the mix, instead of, say, fellow Jersey boy Pete Yorn’s embrace of the Boss’ more subtle, clenched-teeth delivery. Which is to say, if some bands wear their influences on their sleeves, the Gaslight Anthem broadcasts its source material with a bullhorn and neon lights. From the evidence presented, we can also reasonably conclude that tramps like these, baby, they were born to run. On The ’59 Sound, schoolboys and young girls named Matilda, Sally and Bobby Jean die on a Saturday night, but not before they meet by the river’s edge, stand in the pounding rain and hang out in the backseat.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |