The '59 Sound

With the exception of "Here's Looking at You Kid", this album is full of songs that are decent but unexceptional (they are all so close in sound and feel they are at times indistinguishable). However the aforementioned "Here's Looking..." is fantastic. Poingant lyrics and a great idea that drives me crazy that I never thought of it and wrote it myself.

I've been listening to this CD for over a month now and can't stop. Every song is good..no throwaways. Although the cd pays homage to Bruce Springsteen with the Springsteen lyrics sprinkled throughout their songs they don't sound like him. I just saw them last night and they are phenomenal live!! They play with such energy and passion. I highly recommend this cd.

I have heard the future and I like it. I love these guys. This cd gets better the deeper in you get, not a throw away amoungst them. I rarely skip a track and that is rare. I am very new to them and hope to catch them live. Instant classic.

Let's forget the Springsteen, Westerberg, etc... references for a minute and take the band for what they are at the moment, not what they may become. What I hear is a solid rock (not punk) band with a better than average songwriter who happens to write very catchy,(Anthemic) and ultimately enjoyable tunes. Not a bad combination, but let's not annoint them quite yet. I'll keep spinning (and digging) this one and hope the next one ups the ante a bit. The potential is there, let's see if they can deliver.

A friend of mine gave me a CD a while back he said I might like. "The '59 Sound" by the Gaslight Anthem, it was called. My friend is more into pop/punk, but some of his musical reccommendations have been helpful in the past: he once suggested a singer he'd heard a little from, Tom Waits; I have since become a Waits fanatic, and have even made my friend a bigger fan that he'd previously been. So when he gave me an album he described as "Bruce Springsteen meets punk," I took notice (people who don't even know my last name know I am a Springsteen nut). Still, I put off listening.

Well, I finally caved. And, let me tell you: I wish I had listened to the album when I first got it. It's true, a lot of what's here is pretty retro: Brian Fallon and company pretty much borrow directly from the catalogues of Springsteen and Petty, with a little 50s/60s rock thrown in for good measure. The thing is, they combine it all with a punk undertone; the result is a wonderful sonic mixture, fueled by strong lyrics, vocals, and musicianship. The result is something that seems intimately familiar, but enticingly new at the same time. It's rock 'n roll that's been worn in and faded out--which makes it fit all the better. This is rock 'n roll for those who appreciate real rock 'n roll: no divides between "classic rock" and "punk" and "metal." Rock is still rock; and the Gaslight Anthem stands as a damn good reminder that all that counts is a great song, a great lyric, and one hell of a groove. A few Boss references don't hurt none, either.