Let’s get it over with. In any review of The Gaslight Anthem [Twitter/Facebook], it’s always a matter of time before one encounters the ‘S’ word. No, not that one: Springsteen. The band have had to put up with comparisons to the E Street Band for most of their career, and, now on their fifth album (their first on a major label), those who have been hoping that the band would finally step out of the shadow of their influences are about to be rewarded.
Yes, up until now, they’ve never been regarded as the most innovative of bands – I shall refuse to comment on their earlier material, as this album is more or less my introduction to the New Jersey group – but Handwritten finds them striving to cast off the shackles of those comparisons, and they succeed. While the album isn’t going to rip up the rulebook by any means, if you’re looking for an album to soundtrack your summer, then this will probably be it.
Put simply, it’s brilliant. While it may be no more than punk-influenced E Street for some, for others it’ll be just the ticket, and a return to form after American Slang, which was greeted with a mixed reception two years ago. Opener, and lead single, “45”, blows away the cobwebs with its powerful drumming and instantly memorable hook. Frontman Brian Fallon may have been seen as the defining part of the band’s sound in the past, but it is clear that this is a full-band effort, and a conscious effort has been made to make it sound like one. Even though this is a song on which he cries, ‘I can’t move on and I can’t stay the same’, there is a definite since that he and his band have indeed moved on.
The punchy opener is followed by the title track, its stadium-sized refrain immediately ensnaring the listener. The album’s sound is big, bold and breathtaking – it’s a labour of love, something hinted at by the song’s chorus: ‘We only write by the moon, every word handwritten’. No matter what sort of song they choose to write, the band always make an impact. There are love songs, too, of course: Mulholland Drive is one of the most pained-sounding songs on the album, masking its desperate lyrics (‘I would just die if you ever took your love away’) with yet another brilliant hook. These 11 songs have ambitions as big as their sound, and to TGA’s credit, they always manage to pull things off.
They decide to slow things down for Keepsake and Too Much Blood, and this fantastic pairing highlights the fact that it is this album’s slower songs that seem to have more of an impact than the more up-tempo ones. The latter song comes loaded with a riff that weighs a ton – it’s the kind of song that takes little time to ignite, and this has the knock-on effect of lighting the blue touchpaper beneath the rest of the album, as afterward, we are thrown straight into Howl, the most energetic-sounding moment on the album. It’s a serious contender for the finest rock song of the year, and it’s another high point for Fallon’s lyrical style.
It’s not all about him, though: whereas before he has been viewed as the driving force behind the group, the other three members are just as accomplished-sounding as he is. Benny Horowitz has a lot to do with the punchy sound of this album, too: he’s not the most flashy of drummers, but he doesn’t need to be when he guides Biloxi Parish with such ease, contributing a great amount to the restless energy that drives Handwritten. Desire is one of the most anthemic moments on offer, a romantically-charged song that once again finds the band in a contemplative mood.
While the full-bodied rock music that the band have finally made their own is sometimes at odds with their lyrical outlook, this doesn’t make their new record any less uplifting. This is an album that’s going to mean plenty of things to different people – and what does it mean for me? Well, it’s the album on which I finally came around to this band – I have a friend who’s been trying to get me into them for a while, but now, they’ve finally clicked. This is a triumphant and confident album that should see the band finally given their dues. They’re not just imitators; maybe they never were, but my point is this – their new album is a masterclass in simple and direct songwriting. The rulebook doesn’t need to be ripped up when you can write songs this good. See you on the flip side.
Handwritten is out today via Mercury Records, and the whole thing can be streamed here.
