![]() Anywhere.Ī flawless, perfect mix of punk spirit allied to blue collar songwriting. Proving the old adage that the best things never date, it remains one of the finest albums ever made. ![]() Into that mix comes The Gaslight Anthem’s seminal, astonishingly brilliant “The ’59 Sound” – which on a blog that was the forerunner of this site I decreed was the third best record of the opening decade of the noughties.Īnd once you’ve got over the whole “get lost, it ain’t ten years old” thing and realised it is, you go back and listen to it and realise it is still as good as you thought it was back then. ![]() Or The Trews “Misery Loves Company” from a few years later when the girl was Kathryn, or anything The Wildhearts did from 94-98 which was our soundtrack. From the fact whenever “Mr Jones” by Counting Crows gets to that line about “we all want something beautiful” my mind goes back to ’96 when I met a girl called Sara. I can tell you exactly the day when I heard the best record of all time: the very second that the intro to “Paradise City” kicked in.Īnd so it goes. I can tell you exactly the moment music became mine and not something I listened to that used to belong to my parents: the summer of 1986, when Bon Jovi stuck out “You Give Love A Bad Name”. I wouldn’t ever throw a record out, because to me the CD’s I own are my diaries. My dad never misses a chance to enter a conversation about how old something is with the words: “yeah, well Star Wars came out in 1977….”įor me, though its music. I'd imagine just as many people will hate them as love them, but it's the kind of album that if it grips, you'll be unable to listen much else and it'll be knocking around your head all day.I guess everyone does it in different ways – but you have to mark the passing of time somehow. You can stream the entire album on their Myspace, there's a slight dip 3/4 through for me, but otherwise it's eerily accomplished and consistent throughout (although don't expect too many stylistic changes) They're on tour in the UK early next year too with probably their last tour of sub-1000 venues. To my ears they're the best openers of any album I've heard all year: Give the opening three tracks of the album a go, if you don't like these you won't have any time for the album. It's quite a strange listen for me as there's nothing new about it at all, no attempt to push music forward at all, but the songs just work - nothing feels out of place or missing every backing vocal is perfectly placed, every chorus is designed to make your chest swell and fist pump. The lyrics are all unashamedly nostalgic and earnest - celebrating America's golden-era, youth and all that good stuff - but there's something about it which all just fits together despite the cliches. Modern punk fans will probably hear other influences, as they're big on the Vans circuit apparently, but seem of a bluesier, more classic lineage than the NOFX thrashisms I associate with that scene (which I admittedly know fuck all about). Think a punkified version of the Boss with his imagery and growl, The Hold Steady's blue-collar singalongs, The Killers if they were as half as good as they are in their heads I hear a bit of The Cure, Pleased to Meet me-era Replacements and even Okkervil River (in the slower numbers) in their songs. I read a review the other day which pointed out that it's probably easier to say who they sound like than what they sound like which is strangely accurate. ![]() Apologies if The Gaslight Anthem have been hyped to death, but I only first heard of them last week after their album from earlier in the year, The '59 Sound, hit the top spot in Emusic's Best of 2008 and it's had me hooked pretty much since.
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