Album Reviews

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.