Album Review - Gaslight Anthem

It's been a while since I have wrote any record reviews. So without further a do, it's about time I did a review of the latest Gaslight Anthem album "American Slang",seeing as they will be playing here in Edmonton at the EEC on Wednesday September 8th. This album came out a few months ago now.

The album opens with the title song "American Slang" which comes off as a bit like a Springsteen song with more edge, a good rocking opener.
Song 2 is another rocker called "Stay Lucky" my favorite line in this song is the opening verse,
"It took so long to get me back on my feet
It takes so long to find the words and the beat
And Charlie's waiting on the end of the phone
To hear you call on him to try to recapture
But them old records won't be saving your soul
And them feelings got the reasons you know
That you've forgotten somewhere"

Song 3 is a slower one called "Bring It On" a song about losing his queen of the Bronx. Good song,good lyrics.

Song 4 is a song that sounds soulful called "The Diamond Church Street Choir" favorite lines in this song are,
"They'll find me beat down out in the universe
Though I'll never forget where I'm from
I might have moved away from home
And slept out there on my own
A million miles away in the stone
But the beat never leaves
And the temple's a relief
To my aching bones, rambling all over
And if I'm gone for too long
I can always hum along
So don't never forget what I told you
So don't never forget what I told you
Everybody singing"

Song 5 is another slower song but again sang with a soulful feeling called "The Queen Of Lower Chelsea" favorite line in this song is the first two lines,
"Did you grow up lonesome and one of a kind?
Were your records all you had to pass the time?"

Song 6 is called "Orphans" and the pace picks up again with another rocker. Favorite lines in this song are,
"Now that I'm left alone here to drive
But it's so hard to stand on your own
Against mirror of glass, hard and cold
But the clothes I wore
Just don't fit my soul anymore"

Song 7 "Boxer" another great song with great lyrics, love the chorus in this song,
"He took it all gracefully on the chin
Knowing that the beatings had to someday end
He found the bandages inside the pen
And the stitches on the radio"

Song 8 is another song that kind of reminds me of Springsteen, the song is called "Old Haunts",
"So don't sing me your songs about the good times
Those days are gone and you should just let them go
And God help the man who says
If you'd have known me when
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts
Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts"

Song 9 is called "The Spirit Of Jazz" a song about lost love,
"Was I good to you, the wife of my youth
No other soul could love you
Like my rotten bones do
So I will wait on the edges in between
These New York streets
Where you and I would meet"

Song 10 is a song called "We Did It When We Were Young" it's the last song on the album, it's a slower bluesy soulful song.
"And I cannot hold a candle for every pretty girl
We were strangers many hours
And I missed you for so long
When we were lions, lovers in combat
Faded like your name on those jeans that I burned"

An awesome album overall, it's a shorter album running just over 30 minutes, so you never get bored or lose interest in listening to it from start to finish.They kind of have a classic rock feel to them, yet not a retro feel. This is a band that my brother Citrus got me into a few years ago, and have been a fan since hearing their very first album "Sink Or Swim". They remind me of a mix between Bruce Springsteen and Social Distortion, great playing and song writing. I highly recommend buying this album and seeing them live in concert. I have seen them twice before and am really looking forward to seeing them in a week.
I give this album a 10 out 10.