When The Gaslight Anthem’s sophomore album “The ’59 Sound” was released last August, the New Jersey punk band found rave reviews flying their way. Dropping lyrical Springsteen references like sweet wrappers while pumping out sweatbox anthems of nostalgic American dreams, here was a genuine band to love. Kerrang! even called them “the best band you’ll hear all year”. XYZ got the lowdown on the band’s rise and rise from frontman Brian Fallon…
New Brunswick in New Jersey is the home of straight up, sweaty rock’n’roll bands who cut their teeth on the buzz of the live music circuit. With “The 59 Sound”, The Gaslight Anthem burst out of the scene to deliver a classically American soundscape full of vintage rock influences: some Springsteen blue collar straightforwardness, some punk urgency, some Seger/Petty rock vibes ans a tinge of soul. It was part retro part fresh, a timeless album that effortlessly achieved what the Killers tried so hard for with “Sam’s Town”; a widescreen rock album, honest and unpretentious – something not just for the punks, but for everyone.
But Fallon admits the band’s new found fame meant some nerves at a recent acoustic show with Bon Jovi. “It was scary,” recalls the singer, “there were some heavy hitters there. I was definitely the small fish in a very big pond, but everyone treated me like an equal. A great show that was. Thanks to Nicole Atkins.” Atkins is a fellow New Jersey singer and the New Jersey lineage is well documented. Fallon admits the often stated Springsteen connection is wearing a little thin: “I mean I love Bruce, but there’s a lot more there too. It’s also too obvious. Like if I said ‘Do you like pizza?’ ‘I like pizza!’ Of course everyone likes pizza!”
The band’s influences are actually more wide ranging. The telecaster Fallon plays wasn’t Springsteen’s influence but Joe Strummer’s (“I think he had some insights on life you wouldn’t find in many other places, plus I’ve always felt a kinship to Joe, he’s not perfect but he tried with all he had. I can relate to that.”) The band are also soul fans as referenced in the album’s lyrics – Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett getting namechecked. So what can people expect from album three? “I’ve been writing new stuff a lot lately, we want to record in the fall so we’re writing a million songs now, gotta weed out the duds. We’re really trying to find out who we are on our own two legs on this record, trying to see what’s there.” If the last album is anything to go by then the answer is a breath of fresh air in a music scene crying out for some honesty.
Words by Joe Owen, February 2009
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