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Gaslight Anthem
Bands from America are, these days, less prone to emerging in a ray of hype. The success of acts like the National, the Hold Steady, and the Black Keys has been more about the acts themselves striving to advance their own musical style than it has been for believing the hyperbole - while those three acts have certainly had strong word-of-mouth, their success has been far from an overnight sensation.
The same is true of the Gaslight Anthem, a four-piece from New Jersey who - like the Hold Steady - trade in a form of raw bar-band beauty that is occasionally white-knuckled in its intensity. "We wanted to take that next step in the progression of the band," says guitarist Alex Rosamilia. "We wrote and recorded (previous album) 'The 59 Sound' and that was us giving (our all) and over touring over the past couple (of years) we've gotten a little more confident in our instrumentation. So now 'American Slang' is us giving our all, all over again."
There's a darkness to the album - a typical line from vocalist / lyricist Brian Fallon runs "Don't sing me a song about the good times / Those times are gone; you should just let them go" on the song Old Haunts. Rosamilia says it's a song about letting go of the past and looking forward rather than reminiscing.
"I guess it does sound darker," he wagers, "but I still think it's positive in the message. The whole record is about shedding your old skin."
'The 59 Sound' was definitely more 'up', if not necessarily more anthemic in its approach. Rosamilia attributes the change in the past two years being caused by the maturity that the group have found in the touring that they did after the album - they've seen more of the world and become more aware of what is happening outside of their own existences.
"It's a matter of getting older and the past two and a half, three years has changed us as people," Rosamilia believes. "That's why the record sounds different - it's not that we did anything differently as to our approach to the record, but it's just the natural change within the band."
When it came time to record 'American Slang' the Gaslight Anthem decided to return to familiar haunts, recording once more with Ted Hutt, who similarly worked with the band on 'The 59 Sound.' When that album was recorded the band wasn't familiar with him - he was merely a name suggested to them by their label, SideOneDummy, as someone who may be able to bring the best out in the group.
"He saw what we were trying to do and helped us do it," Rosamilia says of the band's second album, "and it didn't seem that there would be anybody else who COULD do it. It wouldn't sound the same...and I don't mean sound the same as in 'American Slang' but sound the same as in match what's done on 'American Slang.' It was a logical idea to work with Ted again; if it ain't broke don't fit it."
The album itself may have the same personnel on it, but 'American Slang' is a big leap forward when compared to 'The 59 Sound' - everything about it is "bigger" than its predecessor, but not in a way such as to make it overbearing or overwrought, but instead in a natural continuation of the band's sound; an evolutionary process, if you will.
"We just keep doin' the same thing," he shrugs, "which we've been doing since 2006: Brian comes in with vocals and a progression and we write the song around it. We don't really talk much about it - we don't say 'we should make the song like this' - and as far as coming up with themes for the record it doesn't happen until we write the song."
When one thing works for the group, the Gaslight Anthem continue along that path to get to the next point. Rosamilia says that the main difference these days is that, as musicians, they're far more accomplished than in the past. They're also confident that, like obvious heroes The Clash, they can add extra instrumentation into the mix to spice things up when needed.
"What we try to do is add something that wouldn't really be noticed if it was missing, but add something like piano to the chorus to most of the songs on the record to give it an extra 'oomph', but not so much so that it would sound like an extra piano part. It's like the bells we use - they're not bell parts, but we use them to emphasise, because I never want to add anything that's pivotal to the song that we can't do, just the four of us, on stage."
Their third album continues their slow advance into the mainstream, and like those three acts mentioned previously their rise can be attributed in some ways to their dedication to the road. That they're able to tour and write and then record without seemingly taking breath is a testament to their dedication to the power of rock 'n roll.
'American Slang' is out now through SideOneDummy.
Andrew Weaver
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