"Very Hungry Hearts - TGA's Springsteen Problems"

So this article really upset me this morning. Talks about how phony Brian is, how "worse than being bad, Handwriteen is phony" , etc etc. Seems even weired since this is such a personal album. If he wants to say TGA has changed their sound potentially too much to sound like Springsteen, that is a valid point, but bands do change over time. However, I find the rest of the article to be really strange. Its disappointing given that Grantland and the AV Club (where the guy writes) are taste maker websites, so this could strongly influence people's opinions of the record:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8192885/the-gaslight-anthem-brian-fallon-falls-short-bruce-springsteen-emulation-new-album-handwritten

Very Hungry Hearts
The Gaslight Anthem's Bruce Springsteen problem comes to a head on Handwritten
By Steven Hyden on July 24, 2012PRINTPop music, like college or a quasi-religious hippie death cult, is where people go to become themselves. Pop can be an avenue for reinvention. That's what it was for Lizzy Grant, a folk singer from Lake Placid who stepped behind a curtain and reemerged as an undead '50s sex bomb in star-spangled undies named Lana Del Rey. It also runs in the opposite direction, where Frank Ocean living his life in an open and transparent fashion can be a cultural statement that elevates his art. Or pop might simply be a forum for figuring these things out one way or the other. In Usher's words, countless pop songs boil down to a simple theme: "looking 4 myself."

In the parlance of this year's pop music identity questers, Brian Fallon of New Jersey heartland arena punk quartet The Gaslight Anthem started out as an Usher, tried to pass himself off as a Frank Ocean, but — on his band's new album, Handwritten — ended up as a Lana Del Rey. If you care at all about this guy as a songwriter and potential standard-bearer, this is a pretty disappointing development. For a brief period, Fallon wrote better than anyone in rock about how songs can map out the geography of your heart if you squeeze them down deep enough. His own songs were frequently good and often great, but what really made them burn and sparkle was their embedded promise for something really outstanding on the horizon, beyond the hero worship. That hasn't happened with Handwritten, and there are troubling signs that Fallon's skills have stunted and even atrophied. His songs have come to embody identity issues they once merely documented.

Let's state the obvious: Brian Fallon Single White Female–izes the hell out of Bruce Springsteen, sometimes to the point of anachronism, and even if you like the guy's music (and I do) this has finally become impossible to reconcile on Handwritten. Now inevitably paired with Brendan O'Brien, Bruce's record producer from 2002 to 2009, Fallon has made Handwritten a lurching, boilerplate slab of meat-and-potatoes jutted-jaw rock. The few remaining links to Gaslight's punk roots have been forcibly removed and replaced by Hammond organs and "sha-la-la" sing-alongs. And, sweet Jesus, does it drag at times. One track, a particularly phlegmy number called "Too Much Blood," the best of three consecutive mid-tempo songs that drag down Handwritten's interminable middle section, sounds like Rick Rubin doing one of his career rehab jobs on John Cafferty.

Handwritten isn't bad musically, exactly. Fallon is too talented a craftsman of outsize rock songs for that to be true. (He did put "anthem" right in the name of his band, which isn't empty boasting.) The album's lead single, "45," is disappointingly non-representative of Handwritten's main ingredients, but it's still the best song here, kicking off the record like a recommissioned family Taurus peeling out of a suburban cul-de-sac past curfew. "Here Comes My Man" is the record's chewiest Springsteen bite, but it's also pretty fantastic, with a chiming guitar hook and bombastic drumbeat that O'Brien gives some of that old Magic sheen. Even some of the colorless, boring songs, like "Biloxi Parish," which cross-engineers soaring U2 guitar with fat "Mutt" Lange banshee rhythms, are occasionally rousing in a Pavlovian, fireworks-on-the-Fourth-of-July sense.

The problem with Handwritten is that it seems just a little bit phony, which is probably worse than being bad, because Fallon has a lot invested in the "honesty" of his music. (In "Too Much Blood," he worries that he's actually being too honest, because that's the kind of man we're dealing with here.) When Fallon sings, yet again, about feeling big feelings while flippin' around the radio dial, like he does in "Mae" and the zippy title track, it fails the bullshit test. Sorry, dude, but you grew up during one of the worst eras for rock radio ever. There's no way you romanced Mary or Betty back in the late '90s to the dulcet sounds of Mudvayne. It's more likely you fell in love with Mackenzie or Taylor while downloading a torrent of Rancid albums.

As Japandroids showed just last month, there's still juice left in rock's bygone fantasyland, where legs wrap around velvet rims with nary a titter. But you only get to revisit that well so many times. Fallon got his fill four years ago on The Gaslight Anthem's excellent second album, 2008's The '59 Sound. "I always kinda sorta wish I was someone else," Fallon sang in the album's best song, "High Lonesome," and he kinda sorta came close to being that special someone on the rest of the record. Though he was a relatively mature 28, and sang in a manly rock-guy croon that purred like a Harley in heat pumped full of motor oil and Budweiser, Fallon's lyrics made him seem much younger. He was a dreamer with a head filled with "classic cars and outlaw cowboy bands." He repeatedly referenced songs by Springsteen, Tom Petty, and — most tellingly — the terminally unfashionable alt-era roots rock outfit Counting Crows, which had broken out in similar fashion 15 years earlier by leaning on classic rock posturing and openly fantasizing about being someone "just a little more funky."

On The '59 Sound, Fallon's Walter Mitty–esque tendencies were forgivable. He was clearly a fan, and as fans do, he was draping himself in his record collection as a kind of shield against insecurity over an unformed sense of self. This fandom filled the space where Fallon's personality was supposed to be, and it more or less worked. Fallon wore those lyrical nods to rock giants as studiously as the black leather jacket he donned on the album's cover, like he was trying to absorb them into a permanent new exoskeleton. In Fallon's mind, he was probably trying to be "real" by adopting well-worn signifiers of realness, but it was his naïve lack of realness that was touching. That is, unless you're the sort of person who's never tried to dress up like a record jacket photo.

The '59 Sound was a transitional record for The Gaslight Anthem. When I saw the band play live in 2009, in front of one of those huge, Warped Tour–style band-name banners, the audience was a mix of 16-year-olds and middle-aged true believers between Hold Steady gigs. The kids were there for the furiously uplifting and energetic tunes that Fallon wrote to accompany the soiled-bandanna white-guy rock fantasies that had seduced the oldsters in the house. I imagine those 16-year-olds were mostly bored by 2010's American Slang, where Fallon allowed all the Springsteen comparisons that followed in The '59 Sound's wake to completely overtake his band's aesthetic. Suddenly, bar-band soul and '50s rock crashed the party. The pacing turned ponderous. Most alarmingly, Fallon's voice appeared to age about 30 years. His weathered, bowels-torturing affectations were already distracting enough in his lead vocals, but he made sure to overdub more of them in the background, creating his own Greek chorus of pseudo-Bosses.

On Handwritten, Fallon has gone full-on craggy. But he's forgotten to emulate the one thing about Springsteen that makes him Springsteen and not Bryan Adams or the "Life Is a Highway" guy: specificity. Springsteen's songs take place in a mythical, unreal New Jersey, but it's his New Jersey, and he has the details both lyrical and spiritual — from the horsepower of the hero's car engine to the untimely pregnancy that ruined his girl's life — to put you right in that world with him, riding shotgun. Fallon's songs are composed of scraps from Bruce's junkyard. They sound secondhand, no matter how vigorously Fallon grunts to the contrary.

The time has come for Fallon to stake out his own territory, and he moves in that direction on Handwritten's final track, "National Anthem." Over some spare, mythic acoustic chords, Fallon sings about how he will never forget "my American love." Specifics still elude him, but at least he's dropped the bluster. What's left is the longing. "I already live with too many ghosts," he sings. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one.

First truly negative review I've seen.

NDTGA wrote:

So this article really upset me this morning. Talks about how phony Brian is, how "worse than being bad, Handwriteen is phony" , etc etc. Seems even weired since this is such a personal album. If he wants to say TGA has changed their sound potentially too much to sound like Springsteen, that is a valid point, but bands do change over time. However, I find the rest of the article to be really strange. Its disappointing given that Grantland and the AV Club (where the guy writes) are taste maker websites, so this could strongly influence people's opinions of the record:

Ha! This was great entertainment! Don't let it bother you man. This guy is clearly just trying to be contrarian. Haters gonna hate. I have no problem with someone criticizing this record but this guy sounds like he didn't really listen to it.

I feel like this may have been a result of the reviewer going in with a hypothesis before hearing the record (in this case, "Brian Fallon is becoming derivative of Bruce Springsteen.") and stretching while listening to find points that back it up. His argument is not entirely convincing because he can't seem to stay focused on that line of thought: his principle argument seems to be that Brian's lyrics have a vagueness, or are lacking when it comes to "painting a picture" in the listener's mind. Whether one agrees with that argument or not, it has nothing to do with the album being "phony" or that "Brian Fallon Single White Female–izes the hell out of Bruce Springsteen, sometimes to the point of anachronism." I've tried to throw my own bias aside (my affinity for the album and Gaslight as a whole) and hear the argument put forth by this reviewer out, but I cannot seem to do so, which either means my biases are stronger than I thought or that the author's arguments aren't as compelling as he thinks they are.

I'm gonna call this an exercise in confirmation bias. This album sounds very little like Bruce Springsteen and it's far and away the least anachronistic record they've made. And I don't really understand the phoniness in Brian saying he listened to the radio. When did that become a generation specific activity?

Shrewsbury_Stars wrote:

NDTGA wrote:

So this article really upset me this morning. Talks about how phony Brian is, how "worse than being bad, Handwriteen is phony" , etc etc. Seems even weired since this is such a personal album. If he wants to say TGA has changed their sound potentially too much to sound like Springsteen, that is a valid point, but bands do change over time. However, I find the rest of the article to be really strange. Its disappointing given that Grantland and the AV Club (where the guy writes) are taste maker websites, so this could strongly influence people's opinions of the record:

Ha! This was great entertainment! Don't let it bother you man. This guy is clearly just trying to be contrarian. Haters gonna hate. I have no problem with someone criticizing this record but this guy sounds like he didn't really listen to it.

Seriously? That line gets thrown out after EVERY negative review. Sometimes it certainly feels true but the guy wrote a fairly lengthy article. Its obviously not some one paragraph 'get my job done and then get out of here as fast as possible' piece like the guardian wrote.

People can have their own opinions about music. Dismissing every negative comment as "this guy just didn't listen to the album" creates a dangerous echo chamber of hero worship.

The article didn't strike me as trying to be contrarian, it struck me as a guy honestly sharing his opinion about an album from a band he likes, and not letting "OMG GASLIGHT IS THE BEST BAND EVER BY DEFINITION THIS ALBUM MUST BE AMAZING" cloud his judgment before listening to it.

You can disagree with the points he makes, but disagree with the points, don't just go "this guy is clearly just a moron who wants to cause trouble"

sandyangryjohnnyormary? wrote:

I'm gonna call this an exercise in confirmation bias. This album sounds very little like Bruce Springsteen and it's far and away the least anachronistic record they've made. And I don't really understand the phoniness in Brian saying he listened to the radio. When did that become a generation specific activity?

Thank you for reminding me of the term "confirmation bias." I totally blanked on it when I wrote my original post haha.

That line about the radio is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Unless in the 90s there was only one radio station that played only the most popular shitty rock music of that time, I'm pretttyyy sure Brian could still listen to good music on the radio.

sandyangryjohnnyormary? wrote:

I'm gonna call this an exercise in confirmation bias. This album sounds very little like Bruce Springsteen and it's far and away the least anachronistic record they've made. And I don't really understand the phoniness in Brian saying he listened to the radio. When did that become a generation specific activity?

Yeah that was so douchey.

It amused me how the reviewer complained that Brian was copying Springsteen but then later complains that he isn't copying Springsteen good enough.

osumarko wrote:

It amused me how the reviewer complained that Brian was copying Springsteen but then later complains that he isn't copying Springsteen good enough.

It amused me even more that he called the record "phony" but was unable to articulate said phoniness.

I find it pretty interesting how one minute a critic's calling them out for venturing away from the Springsteen "influence" and another saying they've gone over board with it the next. Some of it's opinion based but some of it's just trying way too hard to find a reason to critique this record.They've never even sounded that similar to Bruce. Personally I hear at least half a dozen stronger influences than Springsteen on this record.

I think it has to be said that in some cases (not saying all, anyone's very much entitled to dislike this record) I think there's a big presumption in some reviewer's minds that because it's a Rock record with massive production released on a Major it cannot be sincere. That's fair enough on their part, I believe every word this band says, unlucky for them that they don't.

Does kinda suck that this is the first thing people see when they got to Grantland whether they're going for Bill Simmons or sports stuff or anything.

There are lots of things about the review I liked, lots I hated. To keep it short:

Sure, there are several things I directly disagree with in the review, and some things that are stupid and moot, such as the comment essentially saying Brian Fallon reminiscing about the radio isn't effective because music in the early 90's sucked.

However, that being said, he wrote a pretty thorough argument for his thoughts. Love it or hate it, this wasn't a throwaway article. My only problem with how it was written is that it felt at certain points like a one-sided argument with Brian Fallon just as much as an album review.

I unfortunately have to agree with the reviewer here. The album is just really pedestrian. Maybe I have to spin it a few more times to get more out of it, but I don't know. It's just missing something. Brian's songwriting went from a 9 to like a 4. Keepsake is the perfect example of that particular regression. What a brutal chorus.

that was more interesting than i thought it was going to be. still if there's one criticism about gaslight that i can't accept it's that they sound like springsteen. that last line made me laugh though.

Jay wrote:

What a brutal chorus.

Not too sure what you mean by brutal...

(Remember this is a 16 year old idiot writing) Okay, so there's not much imagery in it, it's blunt, but so is the rest of the song and many of Brian's best lyrics (See the quote beneath my name). It tells you exactly what you 'want' to know, he doesn't really leave it open to much interpretation. Probably because it's quite a private issue and he doesn't want anyone making stupid assumptions about his father (As this site has already shown can happen). If I read something like that by Simon Armitage (my favourite modern poet) I'd be pretty happy. It's smooth. The lyrics flow. There's no words that particularly stick out in a bad way, awkward kinda words that don't fit. And it's quite catchy. Works as a song for me. In fact, this is probably my favourite song of Handwritten (drawing with Blue Dahlia.)

Jay wrote:

I unfortunately have to agree with the reviewer here. The album is just really pedestrian. Maybe I have to spin it a few more times to get more out of it, but I don't know. It's just missing something. Brian's songwriting went from a 9 to like a 4. Keepsake is the perfect example of that particular regression. What a brutal chorus.

what don't you like about it?

Labhras wrote:

what don't you like about it?[/quote]

It's more from a lyrical perspective than anything. The music itself isn't bad at all. It's just a sloppily written album. Everything sounds generic, and outside of a few good lines, it lacks that "Brian Fallon, musical poet on the loose in NJ" feel that I thought he had mastered in everything else he's put out with Gaslight and THC. The lines themselves are boring. Maybe I'm being especially critical because I'm a writer myself and he's always been an influence of mine. When it comes to rich imagery that not only peaks interest to the listener because of the content, but because of how it perfectly fits together phonetically, Brian has always been the man. Lyrically, a lot of these songs would have fit like a button on a This Charming Man Album, and that's not a complement.

In short, I guess I'm trying to say is the songs lack the lyrical intensity and sincerity that I've come to expect from a pretty good writer in Brian Fallon.

That's not to say I don't love the songs Here Comes my Man and Mae, though lol.

Jay wrote:

Labhras wrote:

what don't you like about it?

It's more from a lyrical perspective than anything. The music itself isn't bad at all. It's just a sloppily written album. Everything sounds generic, and outside of a few good lines, it lacks that "Brian Fallon, musical poet on the loose in NJ" feel that I thought he had mastered in everything else he's put out with Gaslight and THC. The lines themselves are boring. Maybe I'm being especially critical because I'm a writer myself and he's always been an influence of mine. When it comes to rich imagery that not only peaks interest to the listener because of the content, but because of how it perfectly fits together phonetically, Brian has always been the man. Lyrically, a lot of these songs would have fit like a button on a This Charming Man Album, and that's not a complement.
In short, I guess I'm trying to say is the songs lack the lyrical intensity and sincerity that I've come to expect from a pretty good writer in Brian Fallon.

That's not to say I don't love the songs Here Comes my Man and Mae, though lol.

i was talking specifically about keepsake. i agree with you that some of the album sounds generic. i'm getting pretty sick of him talking about the radio and/or driving in every song. but the more i've listened to the album i've started to think his writing has come on in some repects. like with keepsake he's writing about something specific and he does it well, without it being generic. in too much blood as well, he actually has an idea for a song and the chorus is nice and simple, i don't know if he could've written a song like that a couple of years ago.

but the fact that he says radio about 20 times on the album kind of covers that good stuff up, i think.

Funny, I tend to agree with you guys that the lyrics aren't as good but we seem to like/dislike opposite songs.

Labhras wrote:

i was talking specifically about keepsake. i agree with you that some of the album sounds generic. i'm getting pretty sick of him talking about the radio and/or driving in every song. but the more i've listened to the album i've started to think his writing has come on in some repects. like with keepsake he's writing about something specific and he does it well, without it being generic. in too much blood as well, he actually has an idea for a song and the chorus is nice and simple, i don't know if he could've written a song like that a couple of years ago.

but the fact that he says radio about 20 times on the album kind of covers that good stuff up, i think.

That's a good point about him actually tackling a topic or covering specific subject matter in a song. I wouldn't say that necessarily makes them better, but Brian's relied less on specific subjects and more on imagery and impressionism in the past. Just a different perspective on writing I guess.

@labhras

Well it's not that bad to be talking about radio I think per se lol. He has shown he can take cliche objects and make them worthy symbols. It's like telling Craig FInn to stop talking about drugs. It's his schtick. It's just the way it's being done in this album that's gotten a little bit repetitive. You can write a straightforward rock album (which I think is what Brian was shooting for) and not be cliche by adding variety and detail to the content of the lyrics. For the most part they're just not that interesting to listen to. It's hard to criticize because they aren't awful, they just sound like first drafts. They sound as if they were written by somebody who wanted to sound like Gaslight and kind of got the style down.

I think if you go back and listen to a song like Angry Johnny then immediately listen to Keepsake or Too Much Blood you'll see what I mean. Angry Johnny sounds like it had to have been written with or without and audience. He was trying to say something powerful with the song. These songs just don't have the same urgency.

I personally think that Brian has gotten a bit too aware of his audience and is trying as hard as he can to not sound like somebody famous, which is a really tricky road to trek as a writer.

Brians lyrics romaticize a lot of things and theyve done this from early on.

He romanticizes listening to vinyl records, the beach, having the radio on, favourite songs, the night.

They all create nice romantic imagery. Yeah its a recurring theme that we've seen since SoS but its Brians imagery and reminiscence that makes their songs so awesome to me.

If these songs sounded the same but with different lyrics I can't say that Id be guaranted to like them. Lyrics make it.

The reviewer seems to contradict himself in this review. He's also very opionated judging by his declaration of 'High Lonesome' being T59S's best song. He's entitled to it though so if he dislikes the album then thats cool by me. He seems to discuss several songs though as if he really does like them so Im not sure his mind is totally made up yet.

The paragraph about listening to 90's radio I though he was actually quite funny although I dont necessarilly agree with him.

He accuses Brian of trying to be like Springsteen which he seems to think is a bad thing but then he says that he's not doing a good enough job at being Springsteen.

For some people though (and Ive covered this before) I think you need to learn how to deal with negative or critical comments about the band. You're on this forum so we know you love them but be objective, people are entitled to their opinion as are you so just accept that difference. This review doesn't make me see Handwritten in a different light. Ive still seen mostly favourable reviews. Ive never even heard of Grantland...