National Music Review by T-Bone: The Gaslight Anthem

Band: The Gaslight Anthem
Album: Amercian Slang
For Fans of: Bruce Springsteen, Social Distortion,, Lucero, The Clash,The Replacements

With American Slang The Gaslight Anthem show that their artistic growth did not end with The ’59 Sound. While that growth is not as tremendous as what they showed on their sophomore album, it is still there, this time mixed with a layer of confidence. Brian Fallons’ voice is not drenched in reverb and this enables him to try a couple of new styles, namely the Motown vibe he throws out in The Diamond Church Street Choir. You may also notice that his vocabulary has increased tremendously, there are still references to old lovers, Miles Davis and dead friends, but they are not the main themes of the album.

These New Jersey kids have managed to blend the E-Streets Shuffle", the “heart-on-your-sleeve” style of The Replacements and the swagger of blue collar punk bands such as Social Distortion and Dropkick Murphy’s to create an album that to me is nothing but working class poetry.