The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt

August 19th 2014

(CD Album Review)

****

A great new direction for The Gaslight Anthem!

The Gaslight Anthem are an American Rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey that really came to the attention of everyone with the brilliant second album '59 Sound'. The band mix up Punk Rock with Folk Rock and in a little bit of Rockabilly and are most definitely for fans of Frank Turner. 'Get Hurt' is the first album for the band on the Island record label and is a very different record than previous affairs. The album starts off with 'Stay Vicious' which is heavier than I have ever heard The Gaslight Anthem go before, and they almost sound like a different band at first, it's very heavy and Stoner sounding. Then it goes into a nice lullaby Esq. song before going back to the sound of classic Stoner riffs.

I really like this song, but it is almost like two different songs and a little disjointed but that is really made up with a cool short solo and the way it follows at the end. This was the bands last single from the album and was released at the end of July and the album is set for release on August 12th. The second song the almost Killers sounding '1,000 Years' is a little repetitive but has a great rhythm to it, and very prominent vocals by Brian Fallon. The track also sounds like the work of bands like One Republic and is a very commercial song. The title track and second single 'Get Hurt' starts off almost like a Lenoard Cohn track before it builds up to a more following track which again has that Killers vibe and is a track that is really pushing the band on to the next level and I think might make them even bigger than they are now.

'Stray Paper' is a more Rockin track and almost sounds like a modern day commercial version of the 80's work of Bruce Springsteen or an American Rock band of that period. I really like this song and is the highlight of the album for me so far. I can imagine being in a car listening to this on a long journey, Rockin out... in a Soft Rock way. 'Helter Skeleton' sounds like The Killers mixed up with Kings of Leon if they where in a fight with Bruce Springsteen and continues on with the whole feel of the album which fits together quite nicely. 'Underneath the Ground' bring things to a slower pace with a slow keyboard groove that drifts along, while 70's sounding vocals are mixed with a music that also sounds like it's from the same decade but dragged into the modern day. Think 'Streets of Philadelphia' brought a little up paced and mixed with the Eels.

This is a nice little number but doesn't really go anywhere to much, but would be good if you wanted to chill out. 'Rollin' and Thumblin' in comparison is a totally different type of song it's fast and up beat and you can see why they picked it as the first single to be released off the new album because it really shows off what they where doing on the new record. They release singles pretty quickly after each other because this song was released on July 1st and then the second 'Get Hurt' a week later and the third 'Stay Vicious' two weeks after that, which is a really unusual thing to do. 'Red Violins' tells another story like other songs off this album and is a very nice interlude. While 'Selected Poems' is almost a poem in itself and keeps with the tales of the album, which is almost a concept album.

As it get's to the end of the album a few of the songs are a little too similar so 'Ain't that a Shame' and 'Dark Places' might get a little over looked even thou they are quite good numbers. 'Break your Heart' is a little dull for me and probably a track I would skip, but closer 'Dark Places' is a track that ends off the album how they began. If your a fan of Bruce Springsteen or The Killers I would advise you to buy this album, you're going to love it. It is nothing new thou... but it is worth a listen.

Review by Dan Devour