Bruce Springsteen is, without question, the hip old-school rocker of the moment. Everybody loves the guy, and with that love comes the unfortunate side effect of hundreds of ham-fisted and half-assed attempts to rip off the guy’s music and persona, or at the very least to toss out the requisite namecheck in an interview. Fortunately The Gaslight Anthem’s music can be described as anything but half-assed, and in many respects, it could be said that the Jersey foursome are well adept at using their whole asses. Indeed, their previous album, 2008’s The ’59 Sound, offered listeners the best Bruce-inspired tunes this side of The Hold Steady, in the process catapulting the band to veritable superstar status. To say that American Slang arrives with bloated and unreasonably high expectations that have little possibility of being matched in this world, or any other, is a bit of an understatement. And disappointed I was when I queued up the record’s title track, a meek opener by Gaslight’s lofty standards. But when “Stay Lucky” and “Bring It On” roll around the corner, any fears of The Gaslight Anthem growing old, tired, and lazy quickly evaporate. Both tunes are bruising, straightforward rockers bleeding with the kind of desperate optimism and nostalgia that made “Old White Lincoln” and “Red In The Morning” such fan-favorites. Read full review at inyourspeakers.com
The Gaslight Anthem – We Did It When We Were Young
