Jun 21, 2018
By now, you probably know about The Gaslight Anthem. Punk darlings from New Jersey, cosigned by Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen himself as a motley crew of blue collar rock and roll boys with the right record collection, tough-guy hair-cuts, and enough hours logged in the garage underneath classic cars to fuel a successful five-album run before throwing in the towel. You either loved this band fiercely, and followed them on each tour from bar basement to stadium venues to premium listings at festivals, or you remember their breakout record from 2008, The ’59 Sound.
The iconic title track poses the following question: “Well I wonder / which song they’re gonna play / when we go / I hope its something quiet, minor, peaceful, and slow.” In 2015 the band retired after performing “The Backseat," another classic anthem from The ’59 Sound, which is not quiet, not minor, not peace, nor slow. A real banger of a rock and roll song. Brian Fallon, the once-young, in 2015 seemingly jaded, now more optimistic than ever after a professional reboot with two solid solo albums (2016’s Painkillers and 2018’s Sleepwalkers) intones “If you never let me go / I will never let you down”. Fans have long awaited Fallon and the rest of Gaslight Anthem to make good on this promise, ever hopeful the hiatus would end.
Early in 2018, prayers were answered. Returning with a limited run of dates to celebrate the ten year anniversary of The ’59 Sound, The Gaslight Anthem took to the road once more playing the fan and critic-favorite album in its entirety, along with full sets of deep cuts and greatest hits. LCD Soundsystem and other nostalgia acts ought to take notes on the revival tour that seems both ethical and genuine celebrations of the music and the fans.
What’s most interesting are how these songs display Fallon’s writing process. Take “Placeholder” for example, a song unfamiliar to fans, those who usually know Gaslight songs word-for-word, until the bridge reveals itself as an early draft of “Old White Lincoln." “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” once only available on a Johnny Cash covers compilation, stands as a reminder than even one year into their career as a band Gaslight had the chops to play big, bombastic covers; “Our Father’s Sons” which was technically re-visited by the band for a 2011 iTunes session stands as an example of what didn’t make the cut, despite its characteristic elements of that Gaslight Anthem magic.
For a band that deals in nostalgia, this release itself makes sense. Deluxe packages include a hefty photo book curated by drummer Benny Horowitz that chronicle the recording, and early touring days of the band. Paired nicely with lyrics like “I saw tail lights last night in a dream about my first wife / everybody leaves and I’d expect as much from you / I saw tail lights last night in a dream about my old life / everybody leaves, so why, why wouldn’t you?” the book keeps time in ways the songs anxiously mediate on. And yet, fans listening to this iteration of these songs from this album, you didn’t leave. That’s got to be pretty satisfying for The Gaslight Anthem.
The ’59 Sound Sessions will probably not make the band any new fans, but especially the die-hards waiting in the wings, this record will run up many plays. The ’59 Sound was a huge, once-in-a-lifetime album, still is, and deserves to be further dissected with this glance inside the recording process. Perhaps most notable, to fans new, old, devoted, and casual, is how even the rough draft of “The ’59 Sound” itself is nearly identical to the final cut. Makes sense that it's their biggest song, and I have to imagine, hearing the song in its infancy on this album, or ten years grown on the reunion tour this summer, it couldn’t be more clear why it's their big one.
Image: Modern Vinyl