In the brief span of two years, New Brunswick, New Jersey’s The
Gaslight Anthem have accomplished more than most bands will in
a career’s worth of existence. Despite the fact that they only have
one full-length to their name (2007’s Sink Or Swim), the band have
written songs that are dripping with so much authenticity it seems
they would take decades of hard living to craft; they played over 200
shows in 2007 alone with some of the biggest names in the punk
scene such as Against Me!, The Loved Ones and The Draft; and
without any gimmicks or make-up, they’ve built a buzz in the rock
scene that’s growing more deafening with each passing week.
The band—which is made up of vocalist/guitarist Brian Fallon,
bassist Alex Levine, drummer Benny Horowitz and guitarist Alex
Rosamila—are currently hard at work on their sophomore fulllength,
but to tide fans over they’re excited to announce the release
of the four-song EP, Señor and the Queen. Recorded during a rare
few days off in Austin, Texas, last year, the EP shows the progression
the band have made in the last year from literally every waking
moment on the road. “We were so fresh from playing the songs on
tour, so recording was the easiest thing ever,” Fallon explains,
adding that the band utilized a Vox AC30 amp that was once used
by Minor Threat’s Lyle Preslar on these sessions.
The result is a collection of songs that are remarkably varied, with
the only unifying characteristic being their timelessness and
authenticity. The opener “Señor and the Queen” is an anthemic
punk track that’s reminiscent of gritty acts like Leatherface and Hot
Water Music; “Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?” shows the band turning
down the distortion and bearing their souls on two-inch tape in a
way that would make their hometown hero Bruce Springsteen
proud; ““Say I Won’t (Recognize)” is an upbeat rocker that could get
even the most cynical critic out of his barstool and onto the dance
floor; and “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts” is a soulful country-tinged
ballad that’s so familiar-sounding it’s difficult to believe that it isn’t
a cover.
“We toured so much last year that when we came home this summer
for three weeks to hang out on the Jersey shore it was really inspiring,”
Fallon answers when asked about how the band’s hometown
informed these songs. “I didn’t know if I was ready to undertake a
concept record, but we were like, ‘we have an EP to do, so let’s just
do an EP about home.’” While there’s no clear-cut narrative on the
disc, the lyrics read like short stories that focus on places, people
and feelings in a way that you can only truly appreciate when you’re
spending most of your year inside of dirty rock clubs. “What I really
love about these songs is that when we play these songs on the
road, whether it’s Europe or anywhere, it reminds us of home.”
Above all, there’s also a timeless quality to the songs on Señor and
the Queen, which Fallon explains is due to the fact that the band
listens to such a diverse base of music. “We’re extremely influenced
by older music and that’s what we want to come through,” he says,
adding that Springsteen is only one of the band’s many musical
inspirations and citing Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and other
Motown classics as van favorites. “We’re not trying to reinvent the
wheel here, we’re just doing what we love and hopefully people will
be able to sense that,” Fallon summarizes. “If we can introduce this
type of music to a kid whose seventeen and never would be otherwise
exposed to it, that’s amazing.”
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