When you get a copy of this album, go outside at night. Hit play, turn the volume up as high as your ears will permit, and soak your soul in the sublime beauty of the loneliness that the Gaslight Anthem have captured in ‘History Books’. Find solace in the shared human enjoyment of the little things, like ‘black jeans in autumn’ or ‘leaves falling down’, as frontman Brian Fallon softly and cautiously prays for on ‘Autumn’. Try not to think about how your day’s gone, or dwell on how your last fifteen years have worked out, just as Fallon is now attempting to. Wistfully, he admits that ‘it just brings me down when I think of it now’ on the moody title track, a duet with Fallon’s idol Bruce Springsteen. There’s no longing for a sepia past any more. There’s an acceptance that time has moved on, and that we are only observers of the flow of years. 

One of the most charming features of the Gaslight Anthem’s back catalogue is how they pick up and weave lyrical threads over the course of their albums. Think of how many times, and in how many forms, you’ve heard Fallon sing ‘darling’ or ‘sympathy’ in a solo or Gaslight Anthem song. The good news is that this is still very much present in this album, and each vocal shout out to a previous song will fill you with a sense of glee like a punk rock Indiana Jones uncovering a relic. Even some of the key changes between verse and chorus spark recognition. It’s not a simple replica of their earlier sound; it’s a tribute to themselves and to us for sticking with them.

“A lot of this record is questioning all the bad stuff we see in the world and the difficult things we go through in life, and asking how to deal with it,” Fallon shared. “I think the answer is that we’re all in this together and that somehow makes it okay, even when it’s anything but easy. The main message of the album is empathy.” From the moment the opening chimes of ‘The Weatherman’ ring out like forgotten church bells, you’ll know that your pain is understood. If you’ve ever spent far too long trying to understand the changing phases of your lover’s moods, then this song will speak to your heart. Take ‘I Live In The Room Above’, a song of an unrequited crush that’s simultaneously packed with desire, comfort and a muscular guitar solo, as just another example. The Gaslight Anthem have pressed glimpses of universal emotions like faded iridescent butterflies in the pages of their ‘History Books’ and no matter how many listens you give to each track, their potency remains undiluted.

Like old haunts and forgotten ghosts, ‘History Books’ is a clear reminder that the Gaslight Anthem haven’t really left us. Elegaic longing manifested in contemplative rock meandering has never been more necessary, sounded so satisfying, or been so welcome.  

KATE ALLVEY

With the announcement of their debut album, ‘A Funeral For Youth’, due to be released in September, Miss Vincent break down their inspirations for ‘Gravity’.

The Shirelles – ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’

Old songs are going to be a bit of a theme, because Gravity is drenched in vintage influences. I love The Shirelles – that whole ‘girl group’ movement (a very out of date term, I know) brought out so many great songs with the most beautiful melodies, and harmonies that bring the songs to life. Shirley Alston has the most effortless, distinctive voice, and I get so much inspiration from listening to her. I read recently that this song was the first no.1 by a black female group, which makes it feel all the more significant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4955hA_hcB4

Bruce Springsteen – ‘No Surrender’

I’ve always liked Springsteen, but these past few years I just can’t get enough of his entire back catalogue. This song is such a great driving stomper of a rock song, which immediately comes to mind as an influence for Gravity. “No retreat baby, no surrender” is a killer hook to have in the chorus, and I love the way that each half of the chorus has different harmonies. I love straight up rock songs that don’t mess around and have an instantly memorable chorus, and this ticks all the boxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD3DdskaPhs

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – ‘This Train’

This one is less about a direct influence on the sound, and more about how it led me to approach writing certain parts. Sister Rosetta is one of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll, and her voice is one of the most soulful, natural sounds in the world. I honestly feel like I could listen to her sing the phone book and still love it. After all, a lot of her music is pretty religious, and I’m not religious at all – but even so it’s hard not to be reeled in by her voice. The way that she changes melodies halfway through a line, and occasionally adds an almost spoken word element to it is incredible. Whenever I’m struggling with vocal parts, I put some Sister Rosetta on, because she’ll get me right back on track.

Green Day – ’21st Century Breakdown’

This is a really underrated Green Day album in my opinion, and I love this track as an album opener. They’re the masters of the rock opera, which we all knew from American Idiot, but when this album came out I actively disliked for some reason. Then, when I went to see them on that tour (2009 I think?), something clicked and it all made sense. I’ve always wanted to write a song with very distinct sections that are totally different, but fit well together. ‘Gravity’ has a lot of that, and I can definitely hear the Green Day influence. We never want to be a pastiche of anything, but at the same time, sometimes influences shine through a bit clearer, which is definitely the case with this song.

Against Me! – ‘Bitter Divisions’

This is a song off the deluxe version of White Crosses, which is one of my favourite albums ever. Until recently I’d only ever heard the original album, so listening to the extra songs on the deluxe version was mind-blowing, I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to hear them. This song really stuck out to me as a bit different from the rest of the album, but it still made total sense – and it had one of my favourite choruses that they’ve ever written. Lyrically it was a little brash but somehow still constructive, and I found it weirdly positive. It’s definitely informed my approach to writing lyrics.

Connie Francis – ‘Who’s Sorry Now’

I first heard ‘Lipstick on your Collar’ and that really got me into her music. Then when I heard this, it felt like a beautiful ballad, but with a rock’n’roll undertone. It’s short and sharp, and both her vocals, the harmonies and the backing vocals all come together so cohesively. I really channeled this song in the bridge of ‘Gravity’. When we were recording the album, I was going to hard on the vibrato because I wanted to sound like her, and the guys had to get me to rein it in. She’s definitely got some of the best vibrato I’ve ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QEAtcz3o8

My Chemical Romance – ‘The Only Hope For Me Is You’ 

This is a weird one, because I don’t really like this album that much, but this song in particular has always stood out to me. It’s a huge stomping rock song and has one of the biggest choruses they’ve ever written, and if there’s one thing I love above all else, it’s big choruses. It also stuck out to me that it’s actually quite a plodding song, which I’ve always struggled to write. I generally gravitate towards fast songs, but with ‘Gravity’ I really wanted to rein that in and find a way of writing a massive chorus that was a bit slower. I remember seeing this live at Reading in 2011 (I think?), and it just sounded massive. That always stuck in my mind.

Ramones – ‘Danny Says’

It’s no secret that I’m a complete Ramones obsessive. I’ve been to the museum in Berlin a whole bunch, and I even met Arturo Vega by chance in NYC years ago before he passed away. They’re the greatest band of all time in my opinion. This song is on ‘End of the Century’, which is often seen as a misstep in their career, mostly I think because they worked with Phil Spector. But there are some really high points on this album and this song is one of them – I love the way it builds and Joey’s vocal performance is one of my favourites. There’s an undeniable romance in so many of their songs, and they channel all of the ’50s doo wop and bubblegum bands that I love. They were a catalyst for me falling in love with that era of music, and everything I’ve ever written, or ever will write, will be influenced by them in some way.

Danny and the Juniors – ‘Sometimes’

This one was a toss up between this song and ‘A Thousand Miles Away’, because they’re two of Danny and the Juniors’ best ballads in my opinion. The harmonies in this one are just the best, though. Back in the golden days of rock’n’roll, if you wanted to make a song bigger and fuller, adding harmonies was one of your only options, because recording was still so rudimentary. Harmonies are such a bit part of the Miss Vincent sound, so when I hear good harmonies it really makes a song stand out for me. There’s a beautiful, melancholy romance to this song, and lyrically I think it had an impact on ‘Gravity’ – especially in the bridge.

The Gaslight Anthem – ‘1,000 Years’

I’m in a minority of Gaslight fans because I unashamedly love this album to death. It’s raw, understated and incredibly vulnerable. When I first heard this song, it got to the line, “I heard about a woman once, who did everything ever asked of her. She died last week and her last words were ‘it wasn’t worth it’” and all of the hairs on my body stood up. The chorus is so uplifting, yet somehow so melancholy. Brian Fallon’s way with words is inimitable, but it’s certainly had an impact on me.

Miss Vincent’s debut album, ‘A Funeral For Youth’, is out September 17th via Silent Cult and available for pre-order here.

This was The Gaslight Anthem’s first taste of a British crowd and this was the UK’s first taste of Brian Fallon, Alex Rosamilia, Alex Levine and Benny Horowitz. It was a fire that was given the spark, as TGA transcended genres and went from the basement clubs to the stadiums and your mother’s CD collection.

Fallon’s infectious enthusiasm made each show feel like a gathering of old friends where he would play those songs you simply couldn’t get out of your head. Mere days before that appearance in the Leeds Festival Lock-Up Stage, TGA released a record that would catapult these humble New Jersey natives into the stratosphere and have them dubbed as the heir to Bruce Springsteen’s throne.

This was ‘The ‘59 Sound’. Twelve tracks which painted a picture of working class culture of yesteryear in a downtrodden heartland America. It was a world of gramophones, girls with sailor tattoos and watching the sunset behind the boardwalk ferris wheel. It was unlike anything to enter the mainstream conscience since Social Distortion and it resonated no more so than in the UK.

So, ten years on and playing to a packed, cavernous Manchester Apollo those same friends are going to give us their finest rendition of ‘The ‘59 Sound’. Fallon is already sporting a huge beaming smile as he welcomes his audience with an opening gambit of “well, look who’s back”.

It is TGA’s first appearance back on these shores since announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2015 and the three-year break has re-energised the quartet. There isn’t the sense of simply going through the motions that was evident towards the end of their original run. The songs feel fresh again and the opening tracks of ‘Handwritten’, ‘Old Haunts’ and the delightful ‘The Spirit of Jazz’ provide the perfect warm-up act.

From the very first strains of the riff of ‘Great Expectations’, it is quite overwhelming how much ‘The ‘59 Sound’ was adored upon its release. Voices from the audience almost drown out Fallon’s gruff tones while Rosamilia’s seducing guitar work is matched by a melodic hum. Fallon can barely contain his delight at seeing the songs he wrote on those cold Jersey evenings when he was working as a labourer in the early-2000s echo around the hall.

The title track is given a booming reception which is usually reserved for a religious awakening as everyone in attendance follows Fallon’s lead of repeating the line “and I know ‘cause we were kids and we used to hang”. Each track presents a reminder of what made the album so special from the painted imagery of late summer nights of ‘Old White Lincoln’, the painfully beautiful poetry of ‘Here’s Looking At You, Kid’, the dancing we did to ‘Casanova, Baby!’ and the huge singalongs we did to ‘The Backseat’ – it is an album that brought old memories flooding back.

While the closing section of B-sides, a rare and very much appreciated airing of ‘We Came To Dance’ and an ‘American Slang’ featuring Dave Hause did seem to end the performance on a flat note, tonight was all about ‘The ‘59 Sound’.

A lot has happened in those ten years since TGA’s finest work came to our attention. The world has changed, we have changed, TGA have changed but this evening, at least, we could be the kids that used to hang.

TOM WALSH

For the die-hard fans, to be given an opportunity to hear how their favourite songs came into fruition can only result in a closer connection to the band. The rawness of each of the six demos takes you back to the New Jersey studio wherein these tracks were recorded in their most basic form ten years ago.

The songs were recorded at a time when The Gaslight Anthem were clearly inspired by punk, a fact that is even more evident when presented with the unrefined originals. Comparatively, the final version released in 2008 is home to more polished vocals and tighter musical elements, and whether or not the final version of these six tracks are better or not remains up to the fans to decide.

Aside from the demo versions of tracks that made it onto ‘The ’59 Sound’ ten years ago, this second release also includes two demos that never made the cut – ‘Placeholder’ and ‘Our Father’s Son’ – as well as a cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’. Once you’ve had the chance to digest the previously unreleased demos, you’re left wondering what may have become of them had they been adapted beyond the demo version, and whether or not that may have made your repertoire of favourite songs had they been included on ‘The ’59 Sound’.

While the Cash cover might at first seem out of place, it’s important to remember that The Gaslight Anthem are exhibiting an era of their career with this release. By including this cover, they are showcasing what was important to them at this time; what influenced them and brought them joy, adding further context to the album TGA fans know and love.

Ultimately, if you’re a fan of ‘The ’59 Sound’, you’re likely to find something of merit in its follow-up. The demos of the previously released tracks are, essentially, just less polished versions of the tracks you’re likely to already know intimately, and the true gain comes in the form of a rare insight into the band’s creative journey between forming and releasing the album back in 2008.

The Gaslight Anthem will be performing at the following dates across the UK:

JULY
20 LONDON Hammersmith Apollo *SOLD OUT*
21 LONDON Hammersmith Apollo
23 DUBLIN Vicar Street *SOLD OUT*
24 GLASGOW Barrowlands *SOLD OUT*
25 MANCHESTER O2 Apollo *SOLD OUT*

Before they took a break in 2015, the band released their fifth album, 2014’s ‘Get Hurt’ on Island Records. This year will see the group performing full album shows for their second album ‘The ’59 Sound’ to coincide with the record’s tenth anniversary. It was released in 2008 on SideOneDummy Records.

So far the only date to be confirmed is an appearance at The Govenor’s Ball Music Festival, which takes place from the 1st to the 3rd June at Randall’s Island Park in New York City in the US. More shows are to be announced soon. Fingers crossed for some UK dates!

photo: Drew Gurian

Produced by the renowned Butch Walker (who also plays guitar on the record), Fallon couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime. Stripping back some of the fundamental Gaslight Anthem approaches, the album sounds distinct and only at rare points could this be confused with anything other than a solo record.

The last Gaslight Anthem album ‘Get Hurt’ was near crucified by critics and divided fans. This makes ‘Painkillers’ an even more important lease of life for the singer who’s had a turbulent few years. Still proving that he is one of the greatest lyricists of this generation, Fallon’s new collection of ‘couch songs’ can make your heart shatter one moment and then fall head over heels in love the next. Themes on the album ambiguously cover his divorce and his fascinating journey through New Jersey life. His beautiful and teary-eyed confessions during the likes of ‘Rosemary’ and ‘Nobody Wins’ shows he’s not afraid to wear his heart on his tattooed sleeves (as long as a few metaphors are involved).

As with his entire background, there’s similarities and appreciative nods to his hometown pal Bruce Springsteen throughout. A comparison he’ll probably never be able to get away from. Right from opener ‘Wonderful Life’, the album relishes in his trademark imagery and unmistakable rasp. The title track and ‘Smoke’ both come with distinctive choruses that are made for late night whiskey drinking sessions. Although the most cliche, ‘Among Other Foolish Things’ is certainly the best and most visual song on ‘Painkillers’. As well as it being almost the only time you get a piece of the classic Gaslight swagger, the track highlights what Fallon is truly best at – his incredible knack for storytelling.

Much more Chris Stapleton than Frank Turner, elements of folk and alternative country have been introduced (luckily not to the point of ‘bro country’). ‘Long Drives’ has sudden hints of Johnny Cash and gives the album a bit of diversity. The fast and gritty punk rock of Gaslight Anthem is all but gone. However, it’s unfortunate because some of that grit would have made this album stand out a lot more. The more experimental songs like the aforementioned, ‘Mojo Hand’ and ‘Steve McQueen’ fall flat without the speed and flamboyancy of Fallon’s previous work. Although completely authentic and clearly this is exactly the album Fallon wanted to make, it feels like it needs a more daring approach.

‘Painkillers’ is definitely not just another Gaslight Anthem album, and it will certainly be enough to keep his fans and admirers more than happy. The album is a celebration of a man getting over the worst of times and displaying it in a beautiful and emotional narrative. Having perhaps not challenged himself enough, ‘Painkillers’ might be missing the hooks but it is still full of heart.

LOUIS KERRY

During Gaslight Anthem’s Shepherds Bush show two nights ago, Frank Turner came on stage and performed ‘Great Expectations’ with them. Someone was on hand with a posh camera and the results are up. He really does manage to get everywhere, doesn’t he…

Those cheeky chaps in The Gaslight Anthem have released yet another new video – this time for ‘1000 Years’, again from their recent album ‘Get Hurt’.

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