The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Review

Posted by David Hayter on 06.17.2010

Can the beautiful heart breaking highs and lows of The '59 Sound possibly be topped? Well it's time to find out as Brian Fallon and co. return with their third full LP.



The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

1. "American Slang" - 3:45
2. "Stay Lucky" - 3:09
3. "Bring It On" - 3:27
4. "The Diamond Church Street Choir" - 3:12
5. "The Queen of Lower Chelsea" - 3:39
6. "Orphans" - 3:23
7. "Boxer" - 2:47
8. "Old Haunts" - 3:30
9. "The Spirit of Jazz" - 3:13
10. "We Did It When We Were Young" - 4:16

2007’s rough around the edges thrill ride Sink Or Swim gave many hope that Gaslight Anthem might be mainstream punk’s latest bright light, but few could have predicted that they’d create one of the album’s of the decade just a year later. Well that’s exactly what The Gaslight Anthem did. In The ’59 Sound Brian Fallon and co. forged an album that perfectly married heart breaking emotion with rapid fire elastic punk chords. The accolades were in free flow from that point onwards; being labelled the 21st century Springsteen, playing all the world’s biggest stages and becoming the band of choice scene steering magazines Kerang, Rock Sound and NME. It’s hard to do justice to the sonic and commercial leap The Gaslight Anthem made with their second album; it literally took them from small bars to sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen in front of 50,000 people. There's just one problem, after such a breakthrough, that so perfectly encapsulate your band ethos while crystallizing your core sound, where is there left to go? Do you tear up the rule book like Radiohead and give the world Kid A? Maybe you find new ways to tweak and evolve your sound like LCD Soundsystem, or perhaps you follow Oasis’ model and trudge on with the same formula, achieving ever diminishing returns but huge commercial success. Or perhaps Gaslight Anthem have found a forth way as they are set to unleash American Slang on their frenzied fanbase.

The opening chimes of the album’s title track and album opener would suggest that little has changed. As a groovy riff is layered over a slick and bouncy bassline; Brian Fallon wails with this trademark sense of earnest, been there, done that, believability. It has all the hallmarks of a classic Gaslight "anthem"; as the guitars rise and fade just as you’d expect and the big chorus and final refrain burst forward as if taken from The ’59 Sound’s Guide to Hitmaking. Brian Fallon even throws in some of his trademark clichés; “And Here’s Where We Died This Time Last Year, Where The Angels And Devils Dance”. It’s certainly fist pumping stuff, but original it is not. It feels somehow too prototypical and too cliché; thankfully Brian Fallon’s sheers sense of honesty and the energy he brings to the track propels beyond the mediocre. “Stay Lucky” follows suit, keeping a relentless pace, with surprisingly neat guitar work and a series of quite fire shout-a-long lines, that are destined to send festival fields into ecstasy this summer. Its fast, it’s to the point, it doesn’t over stay its welcome; “Stay Lucky” is a sure fire single.

After such a quickfire opening it becomes apparent that Brian Fallon is more concerned with giving you a rip roaring adrenaline rush than a considered artistic statement. It can certainly be described as playing it safe, but I suspect few will complain when they are confronted with a string of insanely addictive if distinctly unoriginal tracks. “Bring It On” encapsulates the entire approach, it’s distinctly forgettable and inessential, as you’d be hard pressed to pick it out from any other Gaslight track; but it’s just a damn good time, simple and lacking in pretension. The same can be said of “The Queen Of Lower Chelsea” with it’s jaunty western flavoured riff, it sees Fallon pulling out all of his vocal and lyrical trademarks. But he does still manage a few memorable lines in the sea of recycled Fallonism; “Did You Make All The Right Moves, Take All The Right Drugs, Right On Time?”. “Boxer” is perhaps the worst offender as Fallon’s assault on your heartstrings is undermined by an arrangement that feels like a copy and paste job from a million over played punk “anthems”. It is increasingly apparent that originality is not the order of the day.

As you approach the latter stages of the album you begin to wonder if the pace will ever relent. “Old Haunts” is a hell of a good time, with it’s huge obvious one liners, that will be shouted at the top of peoples lungs in festival fields from Tokyo to Glastonbury. Yet you can’t help but feel that something is missing, if we are to draw comparisons to The ’59 Sound, and lets face it the album is crying out for just such treatment, then you’ll notice there are plenty of tracks comparable to “Old White Lincoln”, “Great Expectations” and “Backseat”, but you can’t help but wonder where the true emotional powerhouses have gone. Where is the tear jerking master piece to rival “Miles Davis And The Cool”, where are the considered anthemics of “The Patient Ferris Wheel” or the haunting Americana of “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”. You have to ask yourself if the Gaslight Anthem were intent on releasing an album of almost identikit sounds, then why is American Slang so devoid of heartbreaking soul? Only American Slang’s closer “When We Were Young” manages to tug at the heart strings, with a low key arrangement over which Fallon pours his heart out. As a single track it encapsulates the entire ethos of the band, as Fallon reflects with the weary eye of age on the follies of youth. It has the intensity and terse honesty of a classic, but sonically it’s arranged as a bitter after thought rather than the expansive concluding epic it should be. Perhaps melancholic understatement was the intention, if so it succeeds, but sadly doesn’t thrill.

American Slang may be full of glaring weakness and patronizing thematic repetitions, but it’s simply impossible to dislike. After all who can complain when you’ve been treated to thirty four minutes of gorgeous unrelenting pop music? Yet even so, you can’t help but feel what you’ve heard is distinctly insubstantial, only the beautiful lung shredding brilliance of “The Diamond Church Street Choir” can truly compare to The ’59 Sound’s best works. American Slang is a fast and furious record, content to relive many of Gaslight’s past glories; focusing on bouncy rhythms, catchy riffs and even catchier choruses, it’s an album that’s just happy to have a good time. While Fallon’s lyrics are still considered and on occasion summon the heart breaking imagery he is famed for, Fallon rarely moves the listener with this record. As without those low key moments of deepest sorrow and heartache The Gaslight Anthem are closer to being just another punk band. They make good addictive emotional pop music, but on American Slang they do not make vital, life changingly essential music, and that is a shame. American Slang is full of “High And Lonesome” sounds but sadly it’s an album devoid euphoric highs and decimating lows, it’s good fun, but that’s it.

The 411: Short and to the point, American Slang is an album that certainly does not overstay it's welcome. It's a fast paced adrenaline rush full of addictive hooks, sharp guitar work and gloriously bouncy rhythms. But it's all a little too similar to it's predecessor and is lacking in originality. Think "High And Lonesome" and you'll have a good idea of how the majority of American Slang will sound and feel. This is no bad thing, as The '59 Sound has hardly warn out it's welcome, but sadly American Slang lacks the variety of it's forebear. There are few euphoric highs and even fewer heart breaking lows, this is an album content to play it safe in the middle ground with fast paced pop songs. Make no mistake Brian Fallon and co. have succeeded in penning some of the best and most vibrant songs around, but they have failed in crafting a record that is either; truly vital or remotely substantial.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]