Album Reviews

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
9.0
 on
Monday, August 4, 2008 - 00:00
submitted by
Thomas
There's plenty of punk bands around that carry out the same message as Bruce Springsteen. Stories about the working man, broken hearts... there's more than enough of that going around. But The Gaslight Anthem goes way beyond that. They are one of the only punk bands - if not the only one - that succeeds in melding the sounds of The Clash together with Springsteen's signature sound. It's not just the vocal delivery (both artists hail from New Jersey) and it's more than the lyrics that make even the biggest clichés sound completely earnest... it's the entire atmosphere of "The '59 Sound". It's the whole of driving bass lines, carefully strummed guitars and Brian Fallon’s deliciously rough-edged vocals combined that makes songs like opener "Great Expectations" and "Miles Davis & The Cool" truly shine. "Film Noir" turns from a blues song into something that could've come out of Social D's catalog while "The Backseat" is one of the songs The Bouncing Souls haven't gotten round to writing yet.

Every single song on here is amazing and I wouldn't be surprised if The Gaslight Anthem is gonna be one of 2008's most talked about bands. And they completely deserve it!

Tom Dumarey
Tom Dumarey

Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.