The '59 Sound

If the music of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, the Hold Steady and the Gin Blossoms has ever meant anything to you, then prepare to have your mind blown by the Gaslight Anthem, a hotly tipped and heavily touted quartet of blue collar punks from New Jersey. The ’59 Sound is their second effort and it’s a beast of an album from start to finish. The twelve tracks on offer are full of fist in the air bravado, teary eyed sentiment, gorgeous sand-paper vocals and images of Americana that bleed through the speakers, haunting the songs like ghosts.
Lead singer Brian Fallon has a voice you could fall in love with. Equal parts the Boss and Social Distortion’s Mike Ness, Fallon’s rasp tells tales of Elvis (‘High Lincoln’), tattoos (‘Old White Lincoln’) and love affairs (‘Great Expectations’) backed by music that never lets their raw power over-shadow the melody. While their roots may lie in punk rock, The ’59 Sound is a crossover record that looks set to give the Gaslight Anthem the rewards they so richly deserve. Some punks may be unhappy with the softening of their sound but the rest of us will just hear the music for what it is – phenomenal.