When I listened to the pre-release stream of this record I was a little disappointed because it appeared to be worse than their debut “sink or swim”. I really don’t know how I could get to a conclusion that totally wrong… This record is amazing!!!
From the very first second this record spreads an aura of greatness. The Gaslight Anthem had already been a good band before that wouldn’t deserve the frequent labelling as an Against Me! rip-off. Their style was already quite distinct but this record is a quantum leap. With inspiration drawn from soul music and a production with a lot of reverb in the vocals they managed to put out the clashest album since 59 Times The Pain’s “calling the public” or even since The Clash themselves.
This record is so full of feeling and style. The sound is perfect, the songs well written and the vocals really got soul. There is still hope for innovation and uniqueness in punk rock. This might very well be my record of the year.
[jan]
www.gaslightanthem.com
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