Album Review

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

• 25th May 2010

Given that so many bands have exploded in the recognition stakes with their third album. It is only natural that plenty of searching has evidently been painstakingly undertaken before The Gaslight Anthem penned this 3rd album, ‘American Slang’.

Brian Fallon’s vocals seem to have grown even more expressive. This is certainly needed early on as a grinding guitar intro is provided by Alex Rosamilla, in the forlorn blues lagged, but energy spurting and bemused, ‘Stay Lucky’. A clear echo attaches to the vocals and the percussion of the strident Ben Horrowitz, who initially drives the woe-begotten, ‘Bring It On’.

Then a mid tempo groove is thoroughly settled into. Fallon’s gritty and clear delivery of the lyrical bemusement starts to become more striking:

“Give me the fevers that just won’t break and give me the children that you don’t wanna raise.
And, tell me about the cool, who you sings anymore songs if it’s better than my love? Bring it on.”

At times, the vocal delivery of Fallon is more reminiscent of Jesse Malin than Springsteen, although there is still enough here to keep the Springsteen comparisons rolling. ‘The Queen Of Lower Chelsea’, features a grimy atmospheric lag that comes out through the life-weary vocals. A slowly twining, jazz-blues guitar lob makes for a reflective change of pace.

Brutal life is bathed in the melancholy robust percussion and starkly detached vocals of ‘Boxer’. Before chiming guitars add to the texture of this searing commentary on hard and weary life. Nostalgia is never far away from a The Gaslight Anthem song and it trickles from the kicking key-changing ‘Old Haunts’, into the lively jazz-pop pushed and soul rock jaded, ‘The Spirit Of Jazz’.

This New Brunswick, New Jersey quartet continues to filter their songs with weary but non-patronizing tales of a hard life that could well keep them on easy street for some time yet.

www.thegaslightanthem.com