The '59 Sound

So yesterday, or possibly at this point two days ago, I posted that video of that nut-grabbingly amazing band, the Gaslight Anthem. Those dudes have a new record out that means more to me than words can really describe right now, but man am I gonna try.

For all my love of this band, it took a while for them to grow on me. I first remember hearing the songs from Sink or Swim streaming on their myspace page. They were all right, but a little too "throwback" for my tastes. Then there were rumors that the boys from New Brunswick were going to be opening for Hot Water Music at the New Jersey reunion show. That was a crock of shit, but I used it as an excuse to actively try and get into them. That attempt worked. After weeks of listening to the full album stream on Punknews.org, I decided that the record in question was definitely going to force me to redo my end of '07 albums list.

Then I saw them open for the Loved Ones. Essentially they were all over me because I was ballsy enough to wear a Giants hat to a concert in Boston a few weeks after the Superbowl. They had my undying fandom after that.

The Senor and the Queen came out in March, and as far as I'm concerned the songs beat the songs on Sink or Swim.

And so here we are. For the first time in my memory, I was there at a relatively early point in a band's development. They had a new record coming out, and they were going to be playing a couple of shows around my neck of the woods around its release.

The record leaked back in June, and like bazillions of others, I downloaded it illegally and was blown away immediately. By the chorus of the opening number, "Great Expectations", I had tears welling up in my eyes. The album struck a very poignant emotional chord. The music set a somber tone. Vocalist Brian Fallon's delivery was anthemic and beautiful and perfectly carried the emotional weight of the songs. The record warranted multiple purchases. To date I've purchased the record four times, and I will buy any further pressings on vinyl.

After four listens, I deleted the mp3s. I didn't want to ruin the record for myself. I waited until seeing them live to hear these songs again.

At the show, the songs had the same effect as on the record. I spent much of the show wiping tears from my eyes (which some people saw fit to make fun of me for, asshats). I picked up my black vinyl copy of the LP.

Since the show, I have listened to the record a great deal, and have started to figure out what it is about it that makes it mean so much to me. Brian Fallon writes songs about heartbreak and dreaming of something better. Gaslight's songs aren't self-righteous political screeds set to overly simplistic chord progressions. They aren't clichéd hate letters to the women who've done wrong. They are honest expressions of something that I know I have trouble expressing, but somehow this guy from Jersey can do it for me.

Never before has a record expressed something that, for me, is inexpressible. The songs on The '59 Sound force the emotions stuck inside of me out, and that is why, more than any record before, this record hasn't left my turntable for any extended period.

I strongly recommend that anyone who reads this get this if they haven't already. I doubt too many of you haven't unless more people are turned to this from not punknews than I think.

Well, that was self-indulgent of me, but I had to write this.

Oh, and the record comes out today.


EDIT: Guess who got coverage in the New York Times!