Alive in the Superunknown #6 - 45 by The Gaslight Anthem

Remember all the way back in June, when I set myself a challenge to review 'Rize of the Fenix' in under 250 words? Well, since then my reviews have been getting longer and longer. I think it's time to challenge myself again to reign in that word count to a nice, round 250! Here goes...

I think that there's one word which sums up '45' perfectly. That word is momentum. With Brian Fallon's passionately shouted vocals, Alex Rosamilia's driving guitar work, Alex Levine's strong, rhythmic basslines and Benny Horowitz's consistently powerful drumbeats, the whole quartet work together seamlessly to create three-and-a-half minutes of pure, honest, loud, heavy rock.

It's a song that sounds as if it was just made to play live; with every single chord and every screamed lyric the listener is begged to jump and dance, forced to forget the monotony of everyday life and rock out like there's no tomorrow. The song also lends itself perfectly to radio airplay. It hardly touches mainstream pop music in terms of commerciality and simplicity, but it contains plenty of those crucial melodic hooks and riffs, and of course an extremely catchy chorus - "Turn the record over, see you on the flipside!" - necessary for it to appeal to the masses.

To sum up, '45' is a fantastic effort by The Gaslight Anthem, and a perfectly chosen lead single for their new album 'Handwritten'. It's a momentous rollercoaster ride of a track, with the heavy and distorted sounds needed to appeal to hardcore rock fans, but also the potential to bring a whole new, more mainstream audience to the band.

And, as always, here's the official music video for '45', so that you can have a listen to the track without even leaving the blog...

'45' is out now - it's available to purchase as a single, and as part of The Gaslight Anthem's new album 'Handwritten'. If you like the song, buy a copy and support the band!

PsyD

This weekend I'll be concentrating on getting the long-awaited New Wave Of British Heavy Metal article finished and posted on the blog. Then, the weekend after, 'Alive in the Superunknown' will resume as usual. The featured track next time will be...  

'Map of the Problematique' by Muse