'Painkillers' - first listen impressions

Along with music industry people, I have been able to enjoy this amazing album for a short while now, and you are all in for a treat, even if the songs won't come as a total surprise, given that three are Molly and the Zombies ones and as they have all been played live regularly.

Lyrically Brian is on form (is he ever not?), and I was particularly struck by these lines from 'Among Other Foolish Things':

"And we believe such foolish things like 'love, love, love, love is all you need', and living would be easy, if we never ever had to bleed."

Brian's vocals have a pleasantly rough edge, and musically the album is thankfully uplifting, even the bittersweet songs. The acoustic leaning production makes for an interesting change from the last few Gaslight Anthem albums.

And there isn't a dud songs on here, even if opinions may end up being divided about 'Mojo Hands', which IMO is a fun Tom Petty-esque rock ditty. The new track that most grabs me, aside from 'Among Other Foolish Things', is 'Rosemary'.

Painkillers truly is a fitting addition to Brian's consistently impressive body of work.

My only gripe is that this is not a Gaslight Anthem album. I wouldn't want this to sound any different, but if bands evolve their sound, then this is an evolution I would have liked to have seen. Benny's drumming is subtle enough (think of his work on American Slang) to have worked here, and Alex R., whose riffs may have added an extra layer, is involved live in any case.

9/10

Thanks for the review! I haven't heard the record but caught one of the shows on the winter tour and definitely gravitated towards AOFT and Rosemary a lot as well. Thought both were great tracks, with the former being a great throwback pop vibe almost in the HCMM vain, and the latter reminding me a bit of a less edgy 1930. I thought Mojo Hand was a bunch of fun as well, even though I've already seen early reviews sort of rip on that tune. I certainly hope that we do see the return of TGA sooner rather than later, but I'm glad that Brian is still putting out quality work that falls in line with his extremely strong track record.

I'm listening to it right now for a review in Daily Rock Magazine, and for now I don't know what to say but that I love the album. I can't wait to interview Brian Fallon soon (it will be either a phone interview, either an interview when he plays in Zurich, it depend on the organisator of the event). It will be published in french but I'll post it here in english

HolyBreakOfDay wrote:

I'm listening to it right now for a review in Daily Rock Magazine, and for now I don't know what to say but that I love the album. I can't wait to interview Brian Fallon soon (it will be either a phone interview, either an interview when he plays in Zurich, it depend on the organisator of the event). It will be published in french but I'll post it here in english

I'm so jealous! I also want to hear the record right now! anyhow can't wait reading your interview

So jealous!

Found it highly enjoyable on my first listen. While this style isn't necessarily my favorite side of Brian I'm happy he branched out a bit and there are some really great moments here. Rosemary is a big standout for me. I will say, not to be negative, but I was hoping the studio version of Long Drives would warm me up to the new arrangement and it really didn't. It just feels sort of lifeless to me, and it feels like change for the sake of change. I greatly prefer the original. But enough of the negative! Time to go listen to this on repeat until the Boston show on Friday

Edit: Open All Night is phenomenal by the way. The lyrics are truly something special

Album is great so far I am 4 songs in.

Lyric question fill in the blank:
in Among Other Foolish Things

"I'm taking a dive on a smoky set of lies
_________________, and there was this one time
when I painted a masterpiece"
(haha it's really bugging me)

I hear smoky set of eyes

Then "I've been so deceived and I've been ???"

On first listen to the unreleased songs like Rosemary, Open All Night: amazing.

I also really liked Mojo Hand's venture into Southern Rock/Country-Funk haha. Reminds me of The Band.

Excited for the B-sides!!

Not posting a link, but it's leaked.. And mojo hand is the best song ever!

Pardon my french, but this is an instant f*cking classic album.

HorribleCrowe wrote:

Pardon my french, but this is an instant f*cking classic album.

Wholeheartedly agree.

StateOfMind wrote:

Not posting a link, but it's leaked.. And mojo hand is the best song ever!

Normally quite good with finding leaks and I can't find it literally anywhere.

pepperedham wrote:

HorribleCrowe wrote:

Pardon my french, but this is an instant f*cking classic album.

Wholeheartedly agree.

this stops my nightmares, it probably won't kill me.

Trying to wait until the official release, but you guys are not making it easy!

cowgirlwiththeblues wrote:

Trying to wait until the official release, but you guys are not making it easy!

Difficult to find anyway!

HorribleCrowe wrote:

pepperedham wrote:

HorribleCrowe wrote:

Pardon my french, but this is an instant f*cking classic album.

Wholeheartedly agree.

this stops my nightmares, it probably won't kill me.

Listening to this has made me happier than I've been in months. Painkillers, indeed. This thing is seriously magical to me.

Among Other Foolish Things immediately put a smile on my face and hot fucking DAMN this version of Red Lights is perfection. Doesn't stray at all from the Molly version, just adds another level of awesome, the production is beautiful on it.

I'm just... in love with this album.

Jesus, I need it now.

riversedge wrote:

Jesus, I need it now.

2nd spin;

Lyrics are cool but complex.
I guess the rough edges will sounds even better on a vintage vinyl player. Will update on that on friday.

Among Other Foolish Things is such a fun song. Can't help but make me smile when the "love, love, love, love..." part kicks in. As somebody above mentions Red Lights is also wonderful. Definitely my favorite take of the MATZ songs on here. Like most great work by Brian this brand new record somehow feels very familiar, and I mean that in a great way.

The whole ending part of Rosemary with the background vocals and the line "My name is Rosemary and you'd be lucky to meet me" feels so huge, it's also probably the most Gaslight-y part of the whole record.

The background vocals on this are fantastic.

Dear god. Can someone DM it to me?

[Admin: This request has resulted in that member being banned!!
Please see: https://thegaslightanthem.forumotion.com/t6256-in-case-it-does-leak-do-not-post-leaks-of-painkillers]

For anybody downloading on the internet, making music cost a ton of money, and at the end of the month, musicians like to eat something too.
Consider buying music after you downloading something that you like.

Karma is a bitch.

HorribleCrowe wrote:

For anybody downloading on the internet, making music cost a ton of money, and at the end of the month, musicians like to eat something too.
Consider buying music after you downloading something that you like.

Karma is a bitch.  

Also buying records is awesome so always support the artist!