ARTICLES
DAILY RECORD: "American Slang," by The Gaslight Anthem
Posted by: ian – Jul 30, 2010
American Slang is a record that speaks to me on several levels. It allows me to infer an ongoing theme in The Gaslight Anthem’s lyrical content. It allows me to mull over self- reflections when particular songs hit closer to home. It makes me hopeful that it’s alright to accept being blissfully unaware on occasion. It would be a difficult record for me to
initially accept, but now I can't escape it.
There is a valiant quality to the way vocalist Brian Fallon approaches a song. In my early ages, it was easy to fall into music that relished in pessimism and cynicism. The songs that my parents were raised on seemed to embrace the true valor of the world surrounding them. I doubt they were any less confused about the directions headed, but at least they had a song on the radio telling them it was going to be okay. The struggles were acknowledged but they never succumbed to them. In many ways, The Gaslight Anthem is that band for me.
American Slang is Fallon’s release from the comforts of the Jersey shoreline and the amends made along the way. He creates a cast of characters that are orphans, Queens of Lower Chelsea, men haunted by the days of the past and the men who get kicked to the curb to only pick up what’s left with a grin intact. These characters aren’t unfamiliar to the band’s audience. In “Old Haunts,” Fallon refers back to a former self that exists in “The Navesink Banks” which was featured on Sink or Swim. In “Navesink,” the main protagonist wishes terribly for Maria to know the better him, which was the man of his past. She reassures him that it’s alright because she knows him now. With it being several years later, Fallon demands that god save anyone who says if you had known me when.
It’s an understandable juxtaposition to enact, especially considering basic themes that appear throughout American Slang. Fallon’s protagonists are at a standstill of romanticizing a time before them in such a way that it prevents them from living in the moment. Even at the lowest points in their struggles, there is still the ability for these characters to pick themselves back up, discover a place where they can still believe the world can makes dreams come true to the beat of a cinematic landscape. It’s detected fairly quickly in a song like “Orphans.” Fallon argues how we were all orphans before we were ever the sons of regret or the sons found in the songs of our heroes. Upon this declaration, he also still likes to wear an optimistic title of “diamond Sinatra” despite his inability to relate to the present. It’s a rite of passage in that Fallon puts so much stock in his youth while still cherishing the wife who loves him despite his flaws and the opportunities he and his band have acquired in their short existence. This is a record about crossroads. At what point do you finally come to terms with the past just enough to keep moving forward with stars in your eyes.
If I had one criticism about the record, it’s that they decided to not include the b-side “She Loves You.” The song is phenomenal and it’s a poignant tune that feels right at home with the rest of the album. In the song, Fallon reflects upon being beaten down by his open book of a heart. Yet, he still picks himself back up and croons at the nighttime skies how these moments still belong to him despite how much he misses his Juliet. In these instances of honesty, I can’t help but find myself even more in love with the group. American Slang caught me off guard. If it hadn’t, I don’t think the impact it has had on me would be as integral. This is a record that inspires me and confounds me. After The ’59 Sound, this is the record I wanted from a band I tend to admire quite a bit.
By Shannon Cleary
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