Gaslighting5 Out of 5 Stars
This is the album that pulls it all together for The Gaslight Anthem. I have to admit, my fondness for "American Slang" has grown in the time since I've owned it, and if I had to re-rate it, I'd bump it to 4 stars. "Handwritten" finally culminates all the band's influences (Nirvana, Tom Petty, Springsteen) and forges them into a band identity. That alone makes "Handwritten" the TGA's best to date.
That's not all the group is about. There's an energy that producer Brendon O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Springsteen) has managed to harness that previous TGA discs haven't. The eleven songs here unleash a punkish racket at times, but remain lyrically focused while asking a lot of questions. In fact, almost every song starts off with a question, including "What's Your Favorite Song?" on the title track. But the questioning is sincere, and when they drop the adrenaline for a benediction ballad about a thinning relationship ("National Anthem"), it's good enough to make you tear up. The Gaslight Anthem are the kind of band that, should you see them in a local pub, would either have you raising your bottle clenched by your pumping fist, or crying in your beer over how damn good they are and how rare a band that rocks like they mean it seems to be these days.
The deluxe edition contains three bonus tracks that return the the bands' roots. One is a TGA original, but it's the other two that are telling. First up is Nirvana's "Sliver" (aka, "Grandma take me home"), and the Kurt Cobain resemblance is stunning. Then a straightforward version of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky," one of Petty's darker singles. Singer Brian Fallon finds the everyman melodrama that Petty has always known, and milks the song for all he can. That everyman vibe infuses so much of "Handwritten" that you can't help but love it. Like a lot of the artists mentioned in this review (maybe John Mellencamp or Against Me on "New Wave"), TGA know that their listeners are probably still in that bar, clutching that bottle, and getting on when a band sings more about them than glitz and glamor. Already a best of for 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment