One of the surest ways of having your motives questioned or to experience public backlash is to appear sincere. As a culture, lately, I think we value irony and sarcasm over expressions of true emotion. I'm guilty of this myself. As I watch the the post-competition Olympic interviews, I can't help myself from unconsciously adding the phrase "...to earn millions of dollars in endorsement deals" to every tearful "This is a dream come true" from the winning athletes. I think this type of cynicism works against a band like The Gaslight Anthem, at least when their work gets reviewed.
Like a good New Jerseyan, I bought Handwritten, the latest from this New Jersey band, on the day of its realease. I haven't run with it yet, but I listened to the record throughout the weekend.
Lead vocalist and principal songwriter Brian Fallon delivers each lyric at the level of "all out." He's so sincere, so earnest that you think, on some level, this has to be a put-on. But I don't think it is. The album, like its predecessors, is a collection of big, romantic rock songs full of nostalgia, "Hey-eyyy-eyyy's," and "sha-la-la's."
Lead single and album opener "45" tells you a lot of what you need to know about where Fallon is coming from as a songwriter. His hands are shaking; his heart is bleeding; and he pours that heart into the chorus "Aaah-eyy, turn the record over! Aaah-eyy, see you on the flip side!" at a time when many of his fans probably have only a passing familiarity with vinyl records. On the title track, Fallon once again shows his love of the old ways, singing, "We only write by the moon, every word handwritten."
Some of the best lyrics on the record, and I mean this in all seriousness, revolve around cars. "In the deep, dark parking lot pressed up against my car" on "Mulholland Drive" or "See if you wanna, you can find me on the hood under the moonlight" on album standout "Howl" conjure some very young-in-the-Jersey-burbs images for me.
Musically, Handwritten, unsurprisingly, doesn't break any new ground. Almost all of the songs have a big, 1990's alternative rock sound. "Too Much Blood" even has a bit of a Soundgarden feel to it with its big guitar chords and Fallon's Chris Cornell impression. Guitarist Alex Rosamilia has given almost every song its own distinctive and recognizable riff. Mostly acoustic album closer "National Anthem" comes as a bit of a (welcome) surprise after ten stadium-sized rock anthems.
The Gaslight Anthem are an unselfconscious, sincere, earnest band of New Jersey romantics. If you're someone a little more into subtlety, irony, or musical innovation, then Handwritten is likely to push all of the wrong buttons for you. That was my initial reaction. But after spending some time with the record, I realized that it can sometimes be cathartic to drop all of that baggage and to just try to enjoy the songs.
Look at that. I did a Gaslight Anthem review and didn't even mention Bruce Springsteen once. Right?
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