I really really love this band. Their latest album The 59 sound was olne of the highlights of 2008 for me. Saw them play a great show at a sold out Vera three months ago. They also did their coverversion of Left Of The Dial, and they played State Of Love And Trust as a second cover.
Strangely enough last year they were still touring with hardcore-bands, like Annihilation Time.
― Marty Innerlogic, Monday, 8 June 2009 21:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
-liking friends
on an unrelated tangent, i'm curious how you perceive this addition changes the meaning of the previous statement.
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Monday, 8 June 2009 21:46 (3 years ago) Permalink
ha idk i mean my 19/20 y.o. friends don't dress like but listen to "emo" music
― and why?!? (k3vin k.), Monday, 8 June 2009 21:49 (3 years ago) Permalink
I kind of missed out on The 59 Sound last year but picked it up after people repped for it in the end of year poll thread. Utter classic, anyway. They make me want to go and drink beer and have ridiculous adventures. Is the first album as good?
― Matt DC, Monday, 8 June 2009 21:59 (3 years ago) Permalink
Also I was listening to it heavily while reading The Savage Detectives and the two feel completely intertwined in my head now.
― Matt DC, Monday, 8 June 2009 22:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
I got into the title track of 59 Sound last fall after Breihan repped hard for the album on his blog, but I sorta felt like the record was real samey as a whole and let it fall by the wayside as I got really into The Hold Steady again. In the last month, though, I've totally fallen in love with it whole hog (and got Sarge into it too iirc). I know all the words and am learning to play most of it.
If Hold Steady are the wizened older brothers who've made all the mistakes and spend their time telling half-grinning cautionary tales, these guys are the younger brothers who're gonna hear all the stories and ignore the advice and go and make the same mistakes. They sound like the decision to stay young and reckless when you maybe ought to know better.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 8 June 2009 22:42 (3 years ago) Permalink
I fuckin love this band.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 8 June 2009 22:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
good post dude
― and why?!? (k3vin k.), Monday, 8 June 2009 22:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
Great record, but too many pick slides at the same point in the arrangement. Minor quibble? Perhaps. But it bugs me as much as a scratch in an LP.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 8 June 2009 23:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
I can see how that would be irritating. Of course, a similar charge could be leveled against the entire Verse-Chorus-Verse format.
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Monday, 8 June 2009 23:42 (3 years ago) Permalink
by the way, is there a reason why the word "repped" appears so much in this thread?
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Monday, 8 June 2009 23:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
Paid cash money for it. After more than enough listening, thought this about it on Rolling Country last year, posted for its Americana vibe:
=========The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound Don't know where to put this and it's Americana, so here by default.
Heavily influenced by late period Replacements and some Hold Steady, I think. Which makes it sound hand-wringingly sincere and Bruce Springsteen as filtered through indie types. Lots of ringing guitars but not in the classic rock sense ala Tom Petty. Ringing guitars in the sense that everything sounds the same and indie after fifteen minutes and all the guitar solos are octave riffs and nothing ever sounds like Chuck Berry or Little Richard.
Guys singing about standing in the pounding Jersey rain. Forget this dead man's town! O-ooo-oo-oh-o---ooh! Yo-ho! Eesh. Fuck me, why do I get sucked in by stuff like this? Just ain't my style. When I think of the '59 Fullerton Fender guitar sound, I don't think Jersey/Long Island bar band as reinterpreted by dudes doing the indie thing. Why doesn't this stuff ever sound like the Norman Nardini's or Joe Gruschecky's of the real genre. Makes the Mudcrutch album earlier this year sound inspired.
Can you believe they've actually entitled songs "The Patient Ferris Wheel" and "Here's Looking at You, Kid"?
― Gorge, Friday, 19 December 2008 22:06 (5 months ago) Permalink=======
― Gorge, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 02:55 (3 years ago) Permalink
Is the first album as good?
― Matt DC, Monday, June 8, 2009 5:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
no, but it's not far off, it's pretty impressive how fully formed they were from the jump. the EP released in between, Senor And The Queen, is good too.
― the daily fail (some dude), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 03:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
i would get into why these guys are good and Hold Steady sucks but let's not and say we did
are you one of those dudes who loved lifter puller but doesnt like hold steady?
― makeitstop (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 03:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
i'm one of those dudes who has no love for any of the above
― the daily fail (some dude), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 03:29 (3 years ago) Permalink
just some dude
― makeitstop (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 03:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
i really really fucked up by not listening to these dudes till like last week
― let free dom ring (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 04:56 (3 years ago) Permalink
these guys were fun live
― the grouse of the solitary faggot (donna rouge), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 06:39 (3 years ago) Permalink
i sort of actively avoided bands that sounded like these guys when i was in HS in north jersey (lots of my friends were into the new brunswick uh "scene" but i was too busy being lol indie) and now i'm like "damn, i probably missed out on some stuff"
― the grouse of the solitary faggot (donna rouge), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 06:41 (3 years ago) Permalink
Haha the first album is almost exactly the same as the first one except shorter and not quite as good.
They're playing Glastonbury in a couple of weeks, which I'm psyched about.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 08:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
Someone's gotta say it: DUD DUD DUD. Third-hand nostalgia for shit that wasn't that good in the first place. I mean, if you like Night Ranger, maybe these guys come off as an OK update on that. But does every fucking song have to have the word "tonight" in it?
― staggerlee, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 00:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, what I've heard has been pretty uninspiring and rote.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 10 June 2009 00:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
Third-hand nostalgia for shit that wasn't that good in the first place.
I'm not gonna argue with this, dudes quote fucking Counting Crows in their lyrics, but i still like it.
― some dude, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 00:56 (3 years ago) Permalink
I've tried listening to the rest of the album, but it's not quite gelling for me yet; I like "Great Expectations" though. It has a great vibe, and the lyrics are so forlorn.
Also, I had a thought; this may be an album that requires a particular context to work best. I'm thinking that it would work a lot better in a bar.
― Jesus Christ, Attorney at Law (res), Wednesday, 10 June 2009 14:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
^^^ this is so true, a bar is where I first heard this band and it sounded pretty great in that context.
But yeah, staggerlee is also OTM, and objectively theres no reason why I should like this. But I do. Just spun the record again this morning and enjoyed 90% of it.
― the sideburns are album-specific (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 10 June 2009 14:41 (3 years ago) Permalink
holy fuck these tickets are more money than i expected them to be
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 23 August 2009 02:03 (3 years ago) Permalink
I just got a copy of The '59 Sound. Am I gonna love it?
― Mordy, Sunday, 23 August 2009 02:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
idk. i hope so. i've been continuously surprised by people's reactions to it.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 23 August 2009 02:40 (3 years ago) Permalink
Turning it on... I'll let you know how it goes.
― Mordy, Sunday, 23 August 2009 03:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
continually is i think the word i wanted there
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 23 August 2009 03:22 (3 years ago) Permalink
I like this a lot more than Hold Steady so far.
― Mordy, Sunday, 23 August 2009 03:25 (3 years ago) Permalink
Their album The 59 Sound is one of those albums I can't stop playing, even though other band have basically done the same before. I really like Brian Fallon's voice.
― Marty Innerlogic, Sunday, 23 August 2009 11:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
The end of 2009 saw The Gaslight Anthem entering the studio once again with producer Ted Hutt, to begin recording their second album for SideOneDummy Records, due out in the first half of 2010.
goddamn this can't come soon enough, i want to give a shit about a rock record
― k3vin k., Saturday, 31 October 2009 05:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
just listening to that EP for the first time now, "blue jeans and white t-shirts" is slaying me
― k3vin k., Saturday, 31 October 2009 22:10 (3 years ago) Permalink
wtf dud
― akaky akakievich, Saturday, 31 October 2009 23:08 (3 years ago) Permalink
sb
― Nanobots: HOOSTEEND (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Saturday, 31 October 2009 23:09 (3 years ago) Permalink
new lucero album goes well with this btw
― Nanobots: HOOSTEEND (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Saturday, 31 October 2009 23:15 (3 years ago) Permalink
i always kinda sorta wish i'm someone else
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 4 November 2009 15:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
let's do this
http://www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 23 March 2010 19:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
<333 this band
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 23 March 2010 19:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
Nice new song.
― Marty Innerlogic, Tuesday, 23 March 2010 20:06 (3 years ago) Permalink
ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 00:52 (3 years ago) Permalink
played great expectations while downing my second double whiskey & coke at the bar yest and i was in...well, heaven isn't the word.
yeah "great expectations" is just
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 24 March 2010 01:52 (3 years ago) Permalink
the gasface anthem
― it is just like an unknown puzzle till the end of the world (dyao), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:14 (3 years ago) Permalink
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
suggest bantham
suggest you read jeremy bentham
― it is just like an unknown puzzle till the end of the world (dyao), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
have and do son!! have and do.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 03:12 (3 years ago) Permalink
his man is coming
― Al S. Burr! (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 25 July 2012 03:48 (10 months ago) Permalink
the coda to "handwritten" is why i love this band
one problem i'm having is that a lot of the themes are less interesting to me than on the last album. unrelated, "handwritten" kinda gives me a "the river" vibe (tho much more hopeful in conclusion than the river), and it turns out i still really like emo-boss.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 25 July 2012 03:49 (10 months ago) Permalink
Here Comes My Man is written from the perspective of A Lady, apparently. It is not a harbinger of a heroin habit.
Themes on this album: he's given up pretending to write as the everyman, he says, because he knows he is no longer the everyman.
― Manfred Mann meets Man Parrish (ithappens), Wednesday, 25 July 2012 11:03 (10 months ago) Permalink
Not unlike on The River
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 25 July 2012 17:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
That's not a theme of The River at all! Tunnel of Love, maybe.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 July 2012 18:08 (10 months ago) Permalink
"blue dahlia" (from the bonus traxx) sounds like it could have been on the "senor and the queen" EP - the chorus kind of clashes in a weird way with the verses but other than that it's a welcome return
― Al S. Burr! (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 25 July 2012 21:20 (10 months ago) Permalink
Looking forward to listening to this this weekend when I have some free time. You guys have lowered my expectations which is a good thing.
― musicfanatic, Thursday, 26 July 2012 01:52 (9 months ago) Permalink
Matt - I interviewed the Vaccines the other day and put to them your contention, after their second single, that you preferred their early stuff. They thought that was uproarious. Yes, I take all my questions from ILX posts.
Hah, I don't really remember saying that in the first place but good stuff.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 26 July 2012 09:27 (9 months ago) Permalink
http://www.spin.com/reviews/gaslight-anthem-handwritten-mercury
worst new music? a little harsh
― Mordy, Friday, 27 July 2012 01:32 (9 months ago) Permalink
smh, terrible
thought this reviewer at least tried to think a little http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16856-handwritten/
― Al S. Burr! (k3vin k.), Friday, 27 July 2012 01:42 (9 months ago) Permalink
― camp lo magellan (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 27 July 2012 02:20 (9 months ago) Permalink
hahahah
― mookieproof, Friday, 27 July 2012 03:20 (9 months ago) Permalink
yeah sorry whines i prefer reviews that actually engage with the material and approach it with something resembling respect - that dude obviously saw the opportunity to get in some lazy zings and good for him if it's getting him spin paid but it's shitty writing
― Al S. Burr! (k3vin k.), Friday, 27 July 2012 05:42 (9 months ago) Permalink
i haven't heard this album and i didn't have much of a problem w/ it but yeah it was obv more of a leveling of the band than the specific album
― J0rdan S., Friday, 27 July 2012 05:44 (9 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, I get the impression those last two reviewers were pretty set on panning it before they even heard it, based on the zings; which to be fair, if I was reviewing records on a consistent basis, I'd probably run across a few albums every year that I'd end up reviewing, knowing beforehand that it's not my thing, and writing a review signifying such.
― musicfanatic, Saturday, 28 July 2012 12:39 (9 months ago) Permalink
tbh a band that stays so unfalteringly true to its formula from album to album kinda invites pre-written pans
― Nutri Grane (some dude), Saturday, 28 July 2012 12:48 (9 months ago) Permalink
Don't recall any pans of the last two, but I know the Horrible Crowes album rubbed some people the wrong way. And then comes an album that if anything upped the earnestness, which seems hard to do. Fork review otm in that it would be nice to hear a glimmer of humor in this endeavor.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 28 July 2012 13:48 (9 months ago) Permalink
I agree this band is becoming a bit formulaic, but I don't hear much of a qualitative difference among the three albums. Did this band ever have a sense of humor? I don't remember chuckling at any of their previous songs. Either way, that's not something that I care about at all (big Radiohead stan here).
― musicfanatic, Sunday, 29 July 2012 00:06 (9 months ago) Permalink
i agree that the last 3 albums really very nearly equal -- i was just saying being consistent, while it can be enjoyable, can set a band up to get some pretty paint-by-numbers reviews
― Nutri Grane (some dude), Sunday, 29 July 2012 04:11 (9 months ago) Permalink
Finally bought this. I didn't love American Slang at first either, but this is seriously growing on me.
― Tantrum The Cat, Sunday, 29 July 2012 11:29 (9 months ago) Permalink
('59 Sound is easily my fave rock album of the last five years, btw.)
― Tantrum The Cat, Sunday, 29 July 2012 11:30 (9 months ago) Permalink
but this is seriously growing on me
^ this
― Mordy, Sunday, 29 July 2012 15:03 (9 months ago) Permalink
I would more or less describe all three albums the same way, but I think the quality of the songs on "59 Sound" and "American Slang" are superior. I haven't made it through a listen of the new one yet that didn't make me wish I was listening to one of the other ones instead. Does not make the new one bad, per se, but I definitely think it inferior, and not just because it is more of the same.
Don't think the idea is that the band was ever funny, just that a glimmer of humor or wit could be a nice way to shake things up without really changing much, sonically. On its face Gaslight Anthem does not seem any more conservative than, say, Lucero, but Lucero seems a little less beholden to a specific template. But it's not like I'm writing off Gaslight Anthem at all. I'm curious to hear if the group ever grows beyond the sum of its (wonderful, exciting, anthemic, etc.) cliches.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 29 July 2012 15:28 (9 months ago) Permalink
Right, I feel like where Lucero asks the girl to dance cause they're downtown and drunk and it's Friday, Gaslight asks the girl to dance ~for redemption~. that's part of what I like about them, but 4 records without much of a wink gets kinda staid.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, 29 July 2012 17:21 (9 months ago) Permalink
"here comes my man" is becoming my favorite on this. i think taking a different voice - something, as we alluded to upthread, that fallon does infrequently - really opens him up on this song. lines like "and i'll never let you drop another tear in my eye" and "don't you think i knew about all your pretty girlfriends" affect partly because of just how unusual they are.
― ticagrelor rotini (k3vin k.), Saturday, 11 August 2012 04:15 (9 months ago) Permalink
― ticagrelor rotini (k3vin k.), Saturday, 11 August 2012 04:18 (9 months ago) Permalink
seeing these guys in philly in november @ electric factory. pretty excited actually - especially if they play older stuff and not just new material
― Mordy, Sunday, 14 October 2012 22:50 (7 months ago) Permalink
when i saw them a lil while ago they played stuff from all four records, it was p rad
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 15 October 2012 00:57 (7 months ago) Permalink
yeah i think one benefit of them having figured out their sound from the get-go is that they seem to mix the old and the new pretty seamlessly. plus i think they know no matter how big they get The 59 Sound is gonna be the record that they need to give people a certain amount of songs from every night.
― flaming goon pie included (some dude), Monday, 15 October 2012 01:07 (7 months ago) Permalink
show was excellent!
― Mordy, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 14:31 (5 months ago) Permalink
i noticed that a lot of their lyrics include some variation of the words "sad songs"
― Mordy, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 14:32 (5 months ago) Permalink
i was also sad bc no "lucky" or "american slang." lots of other great songs tho including 'blood bank' and 'just like heaven' covers. 'too much blood' and 'handwritten' were huge too -> over capacity electric factory crowd, philly seems to be huge gaslight anthem fans
― Mordy, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 14:35 (5 months ago) Permalink
oh yeah, and astro zombies cover!
i was sort of shocked at how many frat types appeared at their last show
have they always been a fratty band and i just didn't notice with my headphones at home
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 29 November 2012 05:24 (5 months ago) Permalink
i had tickets to monday night in boston but couldn't go :(
― liljon /bia/ bia (k3vin k.), Thursday, 29 November 2012 05:26 (5 months ago) Permalink
'handwritten' would probably be epic live
rly
― mookieproof, Thursday, 29 November 2012 06:17 (5 months ago) Permalink
DEFINITELY a fratty band.
just not my thing, I guess. i'm not big on the Americana sound
― everythingsgross, Thursday, 29 November 2012 07:55 (5 months ago) Permalink
i mean on thought their presence made a lot of sense and i'm not really sure what sort of crowd i expected--*a room full of haunted-eye moleskine clutchers* or whatever--but it struck me as incongruous somehow
can't really finger why
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 30 November 2012 04:53 (5 months ago) Permalink
"45" crossed over to hard rock radio a little bit, they are on a major label now, etc. the whole reason indie's been running from anthemic guitar bands the last x years is "man i didn't know there were gonna be baseball caps at this show"
― trinidad jokes (some dude), Friday, 30 November 2012 12:11 (5 months ago) Permalink
i think maybe it's bcz the bruce influence codes as 'blue collar' to me--though obv that's a whole thing to unpack as like obv not every dad fist pumping at the staples center to darkness on the edge of town is a dust farmer by day--and hollister definitely does not code as blue collar to me
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 1 December 2012 03:20 (5 months ago) Permalink
shit collar
― buzza, Saturday, 1 December 2012 03:28 (5 months ago) Permalink
sure
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 1 December 2012 03:35 (5 months ago) Permalink