New York magazine note on American Slang

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/04/leaked_the_gaslight_anthem_are.html

Leaked: The Gaslight Anthem Are Still Catchy, Still Sad

The Gaslight Anthem, American Slang
Official release date: June 15

The Verdict: A good week for leaks continues today with the Gaslight Anthem’s third studio album, American Slang, hitting the file-sharing circuit. Gaslight fans will find it instantly recognizable, in a good, comforting, big-catchy-cleaned-up-punk-riffs and heartfelt-but-at-times-extremely-corny sing-along choruses kind of way. Everyone else will perhaps soon be forming their own opinions, as we can imagine the push from the Slang press rounds might well shove the New Jersey rockers toward mass exposure. The bad news? We’re a little concerned about front man Brian Fallon: Seemingly more so than ever before, Fallon’s obsessed with regrets, lost friends, broken hearts, missed opportunities, and just the general state of things plum done gone wrong (the chorus on “Old Haunts” goes “don’t sing me your songs about the good times/those days are gone and you should just let them go.”) Cheer up, Brian! You’re a young man who fronts a popular rock band about to release a great new album! Maybe your next album can have a song about how well you’ve stayed in touch with your buddies from grade school or something?

Thanks for posting. Piece is snarky trash, though.

Thanks for posting!

Snarky trash is a good way to describe it. "Heartfelt-but-at-times-extremely-corny sing-along choruses"... what? But, opinions are like assholes, right?

JohnnyC wrote:

Thanks for posting. Piece is snarky trash, though.

that seems to be par for anything from the New York magazine where TGA are concerned

steady now steady now wrote:

We’re a little concerned about front man Brian Fallon: Seemingly more so than ever before, Fallon’s obsessed with regrets, lost friends, broken hearts, missed opportunities, and just the general state of things plum done gone wrong (the chorus on “Old Haunts” goes “don’t sing me your songs about the good times/those days are gone and you should just let them go.”)

I'm sorry, but is that not life? Do we not all have painful reminders of our past? I for one would like to know what kind of fantasy world this writer lives in that would warrant such a criticsm.

Sorry if I sound ranty, but that line struck me

for PR purposes, though, the following extract will do nicely:

"a great new album!"

Quote :

Seemingly more so than ever before, Fallon’s obsessed with regrets, lost
friends, broken hearts, missed opportunities, and just the general
state of things plum done gone wrong (the chorus on “Old Haunts” goes
“don’t sing me your songs about the good times/those days are gone and
you should just let them go.”)

So .... he's like every punk singer these days then? Except he does it more eloquently and doesn't use the F-word every other line.

Little Eden wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

We’re a little concerned about front man Brian Fallon: Seemingly more so than ever before, Fallon’s obsessed with regrets, lost friends, broken hearts, missed opportunities, and just the general state of things plum done gone wrong (the chorus on “Old Haunts” goes “don’t sing me your songs about the good times/those days are gone and you should just let them go.”)

I'm sorry, but is that not life? Do we not all have painful reminders of our past? I for one would like to know what kind of fantasy world this writer lives in that would warrant such a criticsm.

Sorry if I sound ranty, but that line struck me

What the reviewer doesn't get is that the song and the album are actually very life affirming; it's about moving forward, "those days are gone and you should just let them go".

Personally I don't see much wrong with the piece. It's a few lines on an album the reviewer has probably only heard once or twice. And everythhing he mentions are big parts of TGA's thing.

I also think the article is written with tongue slightly in cheek.

Daire wrote:

Personally I don't see much wrong with the piece. It's a few lines on an album the reviewer has probably only heard once or twice. And everythhing he mentions are big parts of TGA's thing.

I also think the article is written with tongue slightly in cheek.

Well, that's why I said snarky. I can picture the guy writing it with a huge smirk on his face. Obviously we all love the band here, but things like this piece are good exposure for the band if written correctly. I don't think this was.

JohnnyC wrote:

Well, that's why I said snarky. I can picture the guy writing it with a huge smirk on his face. Obviously we all love the band here, but things like this piece are good exposure for the band if written correctly. I don't think this was.

He wrote "Fallon’s obsessed with regrets, lost friends, broken hearts, missed opportunities [...]".

He could have said "Fallon sings about/reflects on/etc.", but saying "obsessed" is downright negative in my eyes.

I agree. The whole tone of the thing is negative and the writer comes off as a dick.

Daire wrote:

Personally I don't see much wrong with the piece. It's a few lines on an album the reviewer has probably only heard once or twice. And everythhing he mentions are big parts of TGA's thing.

I also think the article is written with tongue slightly in cheek.

Totally agree. I think it's a very funny little article. I mean, the dude likes the record, he just has a few funny (and not completely off base) remarks about it. Overall a very enjoyable read. Kinda wish all reviews were like this.

I read that way more as a joke like "Hey man, lighten up!" because the author knows that what he writes about is what draws people in.