June 29, 2010
Native rockers GASLIGHT ANTHEM give New Jersey a new musical elegy
By Amy Vandivort
The grittier aspects of The Garden State have gained notoriety of late, thanks to The Sopranos and Jersey Shore. And New Jersey’s Gaslight Anthem have found a comfy place in the modern rock canon by embracing these popular images. By jamming clever references to the state into their lyrics, and landing an opening for the state’s legendary musical Godfather, Bruce Springsteen, Gaslight Anthem flew their Jersey flag with pride. And as their new album racks up critical praise, and they prep a summer headlining tour behind it, they aren’t the only ones who dig New Jersey’s quirky people and places.
The four members of Gaslight Anthem all started out in different bands in and around New Brunswick, New Jersey. They formed the band and released their first album all within a year, 2007’s Sink or Swim (XOXO), and started to tour immediately. The raw honesty of the lyrics and strong anthemic qualities of the music drew the band constant comparisons to Springsteen as well as hardworking Brooklyn everyman rockers The Hold Steady.
Having laid down a firm foundation, Gaslight Anthem kept writing furiously. They released a four track EP, and then their second record, The ’59 Sound, during 2008, and 2010 brought a third Gaslight Anthem full-length American Slang, out via SideOneDummy Records.
Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon crafts relatable stories of the American Dream in his lyrics, and the hard-driving, rabble-rousing tone of the band’s albums evokes teenage freedom and the paradoxical complex simplicity of suburban life. With American Dream, while Springsteen's voice is still audible, Gaslight Anthem seem to have stepped out, flirting with influences from The Ramones to the Pretenders and even Elvis.
Nostalgia is, at times, tinged with darkness and regrets in the Gaslight Anthem’s world, evidenced most in American Slang track “Old Haunts,” which states plainly, “Don’t sing me those songs about the good times/those days are gone and you should just let them go.” It is this dedication to have their writing reflect both the good and bad parts of everyday life that is helping crown Gaslight Anthem rock and roll’s next working class heroes.
They cut their teeth opening for Bruce Springsteen and Social Distortion - The Boss even made a surprise appearance and honored them by sitting in on “The ’59 Sound” at London’s Hard Rock Calling festival - and now Gaslight Anthem are set to headline a tour this summer behind American Slang.
