Any film or novels that remind you of the Gaslight Anthem?

Everything they're about is just very interesting, and I'd love to have exposure to their style in other media.

Film
- American Graffiti - Vintage cars, last summer night in town, coming of age story.
- Two-Lane Blacktop - Haven't seen it, but, nice cars, road trip, companionship.
- Blue Valentine - Reminds me of 'Bring It On'.

Books
- On The Road - Road trip, girls, companionship, inspired by jazz.
- The Catcher In The Rye - Coming of age, also, The Navesink Banks reminds me of this book a lot.
- The Outsides - Again, coming of age, the whole thing is just very '59 Sound-ish

Any others ?

Great Gatsby American Slang

Most of Kerouac reminds me of TGA (except Dharma Bums - MGMT).

I am currently reading On The Road, mostly because of Boys & Girls In America by THS.

Great Expectations by Dickens...

edit: By the way, you guys better come up with some awesome novels here because I am gonna check out all your suggestions.

movie: 'Rumble Fish'

The Notebook haha

because of the carnaval, ferris wheel, summer love etc.

Prisoner wrote:

The Notebook haha

because of the carnaval, ferris wheel, summer love etc.

Haha I've always kinda thought that too. Plus, i think Brian and Ryan Gosling look kinda similar

I'm gonna second The Outsiders; book and movie.

The Outsiders definitely ... book and movie. Totally agree on that.
I have Rumble Fish with me to read on holidays. More on that later

Got to be Dazed and Confused. I was at the Birmingham show last year when he said that 'Wooderson' was based on Matthew McConaughey's character David Wooderson and the fact that he always said, 'Alright'.

The Wizard Of Oz.

Bring It On, I Coul'da Been a Contender and Mary, The Blues (from the top of my head) contain references to Dorothy!

randomly "rebel without a cause"

drifter69 wrote:

randomly "rebel without a cause"

Beat me to it! Hard to say what the direct connection is, but similar feel I guess. Great film anyway.

Broken Hero wrote:

Got to be Dazed and Confused. I was at the Birmingham show last year when he said that 'Wooderson' was based on Matthew McConaughey's character David Wooderson and the fact that he always said, 'Alright'.

that's fucking awesome!


i don't associate any books or movies with TGA... just other badass music. when i hear something that catches my ear, i always seem to find myself thinking, "Gaslight is better than this shit..."

knuckles wrote:

i don't associate any books or movies with TGA... just other badass music. when i hear something that catches my ear, i always seem to find myself thinking, "Gaslight is better than this shit..."

I do the exact same thing!

Yozzy wrote:

Everything they're about is just very interesting, and I'd love to have exposure to their style in other media.

Film
- American Graffiti - Vintage cars, last summer night in town, coming of age story.
- Two-Lane Blacktop - Haven't seen it, but, nice cars, road trip, companionship.
- Blue Valentine - Reminds me of 'Bring It On'.

Books
- On The Road - Road trip, girls, companionship, inspired by jazz.
- The Catcher In The Rye - Coming of age, also, The Navesink Banks reminds me of this book a lot.
- The Outsides - Again, coming of age, the whole thing is just very '59 Sound-ish

Any others ?

Can't think of any others, but good shouts on American Graffiti, awesome movie, and The Outsiders. Haven't read that book in years. Two Lane Blacktop is a great movie.

Agree with Blue Valentine

blue valentine the movie? i love it!

Richard Russo novels remind me a lot of the americana aspect of gaslight and brians music. I love Richard Russo and reccomend him to everyone out there. Especially Bridge of sighs, i think that best shows the way in which hsi novels resemble some aspects of TGS music. to me anyways

John Steinbeck, every time. The themes are generally the same, for one thing: the personal lives of working class people, usually conflicted relationships with home and family, and the implications of a checkered past.

Edit: I should specify that while Steinbeck's whole style of writing pretty well matches Gaslight's, what I'm thinking of most is the book Cannery Row, a series of vignettes about a small industrial town.

I think a lot of Steinbeck's themes are mirroed with Russo in a more contemporary way. Ill check out cannery row, sounds good!

stepsandnumbers wrote:

I'm gonna second The Outsiders; book and movie.

This was gonna be my suggestion I had no idea there was a movie though.

kieran wrote:

stepsandnumbers wrote:

I'm gonna second The Outsiders; book and movie.

This was gonna be my suggestion I had no idea there was a movie though.

yeah Coppola directed the movie.

Kilgore Trout wrote:

John Steinbeck, every time. The themes are generally the same, for one thing: the personal lives of working class people, usually conflicted relationships with home and family, and the implications of a checkered past.

Edit: I should specify that while Steinbeck's whole style of writing pretty well matches Gaslight's, what I'm thinking of most is the book Cannery Row, a series of vignettes about a small industrial town.

Yes! Cannery Row, East of Eden, The Wayward Bus... and even The Winter of Our Discontent at times.

and what about Woody Guthrie's Bound for Glory? and also The Catcher in the Rye and The Notebook

movies: It's a Wonderful Life, or even Say Anything

I believe Francis Ford directed Rumble Fish also...