This is the start of the end of year selections for best of whatever comes into my head. I’ve decided to start out with music because I doubt that I will come across an album which came out in 2008 that’s going to change my opinion. Also, I’m not fully prepared to pick a film as I still need to see a few to really feel comfortable about picking a best of (plus it’s going to be a top five or ten or something and I’m pretty sure there are at least two, possibly three, out there that will crack whatever number I decide to stick with). We also have TV shows (I’m going to do a “worst of” there too. I know, fun, right?) and Comics that will be included in this little series. Both of those are going to require me to look back at multiple chapters of either medium to refresh my memory about which I actually felt the strongest about. So, yeah, on with the best album of 2008 (this really isn’t even my opinion, it’s just a fact more or less).
Normally I won’t talk about music. This is for a number of different reasons, the main reason being that it’s an overly personal thing for me all things consider and it’s rare that I agree with anyone on music in broad sense. When you get right down to it, I just don’t have a shared experience with very many people when it comes to music. Another reason, and this has more to do with why I won’t talk about music much on this soapbox, is that I rarely come across an album that I feel strongly about that came out within months (or even a year) of when I’m listening to it (of course, this means, I’ll probably talk about music more than anything, so I reserve the right to talk out of both sides of my mouth). That’s a pretty important part considering that my favorite albums of mine are ones that I experienced while the band was still very relevant, or at the very least the album was still considered recent. There are a number of bands that I love like Hüsker Dü, Nation of Ulysses, or the Clash, but there’s always a disconnect with them because I’m unearthing of them and that I was getting the full experience (ignoring the fact that I wasn’t fully aware of music in same capacity when most of them existed). So I feel a little odd expressing a like for an album or a band when I wasn’t around for the initial wave.
That’s not the case here. About a year or two ago I came across a band hailing from New Jersey called the Gaslight Anthem. They were a punk band with a slight roots rock influence (essentially a band with heavy leanings toward the Clash but grew up idolizing Bruce Springsteen). Their first album came out in 2007 to a fair amount of critical acclaim. It was faintly derivative but was good enough in its own right due to creativeness of it all and the structure (which was vaguely reminiscent of Alkaline Trio’s Goddamnit). At the of the day it was a very good album that didn’t necessarily break new ground but kind of brought back a feeling in music (especially the indie crowd) that hadn’t been mined in a long time.
That changed in August of this year with the release of the ’59 Sound. The album felt like a breath of fresh air. They went from a punk band that was playing up an equal influence of the Clash and Bruce Springsteen to a punk band that was channeling the feeling of late 50s, early 60s rock and roll. They went from a band that wore their influences on their sleeve and let it define their sound to a band that used their sound to inform people of their influences while creating something new. Their sound started to make this turn when they released a four song E.P., Senor and the Queen. I doubt there’s ever been a more perfect bridge between two albums as that E.P.
What makes this album especially great though? For one the songs feel like they could exist at any point from 1959 until now. There’s a feel of calm on this album that I haven’t heard from a band before (although it’s something I’ve kind of wished for in an album for awhile) but there’s also a sense of hectic energy that for all intents and purposes makes one want to dance. It seems like these attributes contradict each other or at the very least would make the album an uneven affair but that’s never the case (obviously). The reason for this is primarily because they’re trying to make a straight forward Rock ‘N’ Roll album and not just one that’s filtered through a certain genre of Rock music. This really is an album that harkens back to the early days of Rock ‘N’ Roll, which is what Punk Rock was doing back in the late 70s. Although instead of focusing on the manic energy and the inherent simplicity of that era like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Clash, and countless others did, the Gaslight Anthem focuses more on thematic ventures and the musicianship that the early days of the Rock ‘N’ Roll built on.
The band focuses more on hanging out and longing for loves and days past than anything else, trying to create a sense of melancholy and fun all at the same time. Remembering the days that now appear to be the best days of your life but at the time caused you the most possible heartache. Every single song in the twelve song set reflects this sort of feeling, all while playing that sound that feels like you should’ve heard it before but you can’t quite place where.
And that’s overall effect of the ’59 Sound. It feels like an album that should’ve been made a hundred times over already because evokes so many feelings that everyone shares. But using that to their advantage to create something new while making it feel like something old, brings the listener closer to the record and it causes you to remember the good times that have long since past.
Here are their first two videos from the '59 Sound to give a better a feel for their sound. The first video is the titular track and the second is the third track on the album "Old White Lincoln."
Normally I won’t talk about music. This is for a number of different reasons, the main reason being that it’s an overly personal thing for me all things consider and it’s rare that I agree with anyone on music in broad sense. When you get right down to it, I just don’t have a shared experience with very many people when it comes to music. Another reason, and this has more to do with why I won’t talk about music much on this soapbox, is that I rarely come across an album that I feel strongly about that came out within months (or even a year) of when I’m listening to it (of course, this means, I’ll probably talk about music more than anything, so I reserve the right to talk out of both sides of my mouth). That’s a pretty important part considering that my favorite albums of mine are ones that I experienced while the band was still very relevant, or at the very least the album was still considered recent. There are a number of bands that I love like Hüsker Dü, Nation of Ulysses, or the Clash, but there’s always a disconnect with them because I’m unearthing of them and that I was getting the full experience (ignoring the fact that I wasn’t fully aware of music in same capacity when most of them existed). So I feel a little odd expressing a like for an album or a band when I wasn’t around for the initial wave.
That’s not the case here. About a year or two ago I came across a band hailing from New Jersey called the Gaslight Anthem. They were a punk band with a slight roots rock influence (essentially a band with heavy leanings toward the Clash but grew up idolizing Bruce Springsteen). Their first album came out in 2007 to a fair amount of critical acclaim. It was faintly derivative but was good enough in its own right due to creativeness of it all and the structure (which was vaguely reminiscent of Alkaline Trio’s Goddamnit). At the of the day it was a very good album that didn’t necessarily break new ground but kind of brought back a feeling in music (especially the indie crowd) that hadn’t been mined in a long time.
That changed in August of this year with the release of the ’59 Sound. The album felt like a breath of fresh air. They went from a punk band that was playing up an equal influence of the Clash and Bruce Springsteen to a punk band that was channeling the feeling of late 50s, early 60s rock and roll. They went from a band that wore their influences on their sleeve and let it define their sound to a band that used their sound to inform people of their influences while creating something new. Their sound started to make this turn when they released a four song E.P., Senor and the Queen. I doubt there’s ever been a more perfect bridge between two albums as that E.P.
What makes this album especially great though? For one the songs feel like they could exist at any point from 1959 until now. There’s a feel of calm on this album that I haven’t heard from a band before (although it’s something I’ve kind of wished for in an album for awhile) but there’s also a sense of hectic energy that for all intents and purposes makes one want to dance. It seems like these attributes contradict each other or at the very least would make the album an uneven affair but that’s never the case (obviously). The reason for this is primarily because they’re trying to make a straight forward Rock ‘N’ Roll album and not just one that’s filtered through a certain genre of Rock music. This really is an album that harkens back to the early days of Rock ‘N’ Roll, which is what Punk Rock was doing back in the late 70s. Although instead of focusing on the manic energy and the inherent simplicity of that era like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Clash, and countless others did, the Gaslight Anthem focuses more on thematic ventures and the musicianship that the early days of the Rock ‘N’ Roll built on.
The band focuses more on hanging out and longing for loves and days past than anything else, trying to create a sense of melancholy and fun all at the same time. Remembering the days that now appear to be the best days of your life but at the time caused you the most possible heartache. Every single song in the twelve song set reflects this sort of feeling, all while playing that sound that feels like you should’ve heard it before but you can’t quite place where.
And that’s overall effect of the ’59 Sound. It feels like an album that should’ve been made a hundred times over already because evokes so many feelings that everyone shares. But using that to their advantage to create something new while making it feel like something old, brings the listener closer to the record and it causes you to remember the good times that have long since past.
Here are their first two videos from the '59 Sound to give a better a feel for their sound. The first video is the titular track and the second is the third track on the album "Old White Lincoln."
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