7/25/2023 0 Comments Gaslight anthem lyrics 59 soundThe ’59 Sound got a lot of hype in 2008, but my first listens told me it was something dated and backwards-looking: songs stuck in the past that didn’t have relevance to my present. A part of the reason is probably my initial indifference to the album. Where other records I loved back then have drifted more into the background, The ’59 Sound is a record I’ve played regularly-probably once every couple weeks, at least-for the better part of the past decade. It’s a record that has grown with me over time, one that has meant a dozen different things to me from one year to the next. It’s the rare “favorite record” in my life that isn’t tied to any one specific moment or season or year. Those albums could never be life soundtracks to me today, because they already played that role at such vivid and crucial junctures of my life. My other 2008 classics-records like Butch Walker’s Sycamore Meadows and Jack’s Mannequin’s The Glass Passenger-are albums I revisit only every month or two, not because I don’t love them, but because they hold so many pieces of my past self within their songs. ![]() Most of my favorite albums fit into this category. It’s a beautiful thing when that happens, but it also tends to mean your favorite LPs eventually fall out of regular rotation, as you reach for new music to play that role for new moments and memories. You play those records so much when they’re new to you that they become a collage of moments and memories from your life. One of the undeniable truths of being a consummate life soundtracker is that most of your favorite albums end up being inextricably linked to certain periods of time. ![]() I'd imagine just as many people will hate them as love them, but it's the kind of album that if it grips, you'll be unable to listen much else and it'll be knocking around your head all day.Over the course of the past 10 years, few albums from the 2000s have stuck with me quite like The ’59 Sound. You can stream the entire album on their Myspace, there's a slight dip 3/4 through for me, but otherwise it's eerily accomplished and consistent throughout (although don't expect too many stylistic changes) They're on tour in the UK early next year too with probably their last tour of sub-1000 venues. To my ears they're the best openers of any album I've heard all year: Give the opening three tracks of the album a go, if you don't like these you won't have any time for the album. It's quite a strange listen for me as there's nothing new about it at all, no attempt to push music forward at all, but the songs just work - nothing feels out of place or missing every backing vocal is perfectly placed, every chorus is designed to make your chest swell and fist pump. The lyrics are all unashamedly nostalgic and earnest - celebrating America's golden-era, youth and all that good stuff - but there's something about it which all just fits together despite the cliches. ![]() Modern punk fans will probably hear other influences, as they're big on the Vans circuit apparently, but seem of a bluesier, more classic lineage than the NOFX thrashisms I associate with that scene (which I admittedly know fuck all about). Think a punkified version of the Boss with his imagery and growl, The Hold Steady's blue-collar singalongs, The Killers if they were as half as good as they are in their heads I hear a bit of The Cure, Pleased to Meet me-era Replacements and even Okkervil River (in the slower numbers) in their songs. I read a review the other day which pointed out that it's probably easier to say who they sound like than what they sound like which is strangely accurate. ![]() Apologies if The Gaslight Anthem have been hyped to death, but I only first heard of them last week after their album from earlier in the year, The '59 Sound, hit the top spot in Emusic's Best of 2008 and it's had me hooked pretty much since.
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