The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Unlike Brian Fallon, I’m at a loss for words. I’ve listened to The Gaslight Anthem’s highly anticipated follow-up to 2008’s The ’59 Sound constantly for months and I remain unsure as to how I should describe the album. In fact, all I can honestly think off to say is “buy this record, it needs to be heard.”

But why exactly? There’s a few reasons really.

First off, this is The Gaslight Anthem and the band can do no wrong. Everything they touch turns to gold. In one song, they’re able to pack more hooks, more passion and more sincerity than most bands can create their entire career.  American Slang sees the band doing just that and going one step further.

This isn’t The ’59 Sound 2.0. While there are similarities, The Gaslight Anthem aren’t here to reproduce the same record again and again; they’re making changes to their sound but keeping it close enough to stay consistent, familiar and comfortable. They’re able to create the same thrills and hit the same emotional highs as The ’59 Sound but from a distinctly different point – and for that, they deserve to be credited.

On American Slang, The Gaslight Anthem are finally displaying their true selves to the world – paying homage to their influences but not hiding behind them.  American Slang sees them creating an identity of their own. There’s stronger musicianship, more memorable rhythms (The Queen of Lower Chelsea) and varied tempos (in fact, only once do they hit that slow tempo mark and they do it with class on the nostalgia-soaked closer We Did It When We Were Young).

Fallon’s voice has grown too. He still has that blue-collar gruffness to it that helped characterized the band, but there’s a quivering vulnerability in it that makes his words ring true. See the powerful toe-tapperThe Diamond Church Street Choir or the aforementioned We Did It When We Were Young for the perfect example. Hell, the Muhammad Ali-inspired intro to Boxer also shows a new side of Fallon.

Lyrically, he’s evolved as well. Still writing better lyrics than 99% of today’s music, American Slang loses its imagery, candid characters, musical references and New Jersey based anecdotes. Instead, Fallon moves north and paints an image of his new hometown: New York.  He still uses a sense of mystery and vagueness in his song to enable multiple interpretations, but he tends to be more direct here, more focused and concise. He looks at the here and now, often times avoiding the nostalgic element that characterized the band in the past – and going so far as condemning it in Old Haunts. There’s a joyous jubilation in the lyrics, a seize the day attitude that is contagious.

Will it stand the test of time or have such a lasting impact like The ’59 Sound?  It’s hard to tell right now, but chances are it will. So like I said, buy this record, it needs to be heard.