Album Review: The Gaslight Anthem - 'American Slang'

8 July 2010 | 9:52 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Proof that the Gaslight Anthem's flavour hasn't gone stale.

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Three years on from the release of their debut album Sink or Swim, The Gaslight Anthem are back with ten more tracks of feverish rock and roll fury. The New Jersey quartet spent 2008 touring off the back of their sophomore album The ’59 Sound across the US, Europe and Australia sharing stages with Social Distortion, Against Me!, Rise Against and the band’s greatest influence, Bruce Springsteen. Their latest offering shows The Gaslight Anthem at its very best - raw and energetic, with a penchant for passionate choruses which listeners will find themselves nodding their heads to. Guitarist Alex Rosamilia describes the album as ‘a little darker, a little sadder. It’s still definitely anthemic – the older stuff was more triumphant; this is more like, we won, but there were casualties.’


The record explodes with title track American Slang, showing the group’s New Jersey underground roots. No surprises where the inspiration for this track comes from – like much of Gaslight’s work, American Slang pays homage to the captivating ballads of aforementioned Bruce Springsteen. While the instrumentation is somewhat similar to the group’s previous material, it is clear that they have opted to abandon the thematic fascination with 1950s culture that was so prominent in the appropriately titled prior release, The ’59 Sound. But don’t let this throw you off, vocalist Brian Fallon still offers us the lyrically nostalgic experience that he always has.


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With a vocal delivery to compliment the reminiscence of the lyrical content, the echo drenched guitar leads follow suit, exemplified in the track Orphans. Fallon has declared ‘we went into the studio, we had become better players, we had become more of a real band’, and American Slang is certainly proof enough of this statement.

After 2 LPs, The Gaslight Anthem sounds fresher than ever with their latest release American Slang. Whilst maintaining the upbeat assault of earlier Gaslight songs, the record certainly holds its own in sentimental value. Without a single low point to the album, this is The Gaslight Anthem's most flawless release to date.

1. 'American Slang'

2. 'Stay Lucky'

3. 'Bring It On'

4. 'The Diamond Church Street Choir'

5. 'The Queen of Lower Chelsea'

6. 'Orphans'

7. 'Boxer'

8. 'Old Haunts'

9. 'The Spirit of Jazz'

10. 'We Did It When We Were Young'