Gaslight Honestly Rock

Gaslight Honestly Rock

Matthew Winters

The bass head for Benny Horowitz' drum kit is emblazoned with a portrait of Shaft and Charles Bronson. New Jersey punk stars The Gaslight Anthem would seem like an unlikely candidate to have a picture like that on one of their instruments. However one listen to the soulful, dangerous sounds that erupt from their instruments and you can understand why Shaft was a good choice.
The band; Horowitz, lead singer/guitarist Brian Fallon, bassist Alex Levine, and Alex Rosamilia on guitar: have taken the soul of the roads of NJ and distilled it into a mix that is one part melodic punk, a portion of soul, and the best parts of classic rock.

Live, the band is a machine. They do not need to explain themselves to a sold-out crowd, they let the music do that for them. Plowing through new material from their sophmore record, The '59 Sound, they sprinked the mix with older favorites, "Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?," "Boomboxes And Dictionaries," and others, but it was the new material that shone through best. "The Patient Farris Wheel" lost none of it's urgency without the guest vocals from Dicky Barrett and served as crowd mover. "The '59 Sound" was delivered honestly and with care to the original intent of the song. The centerpiece however was "Old White Lincoln" with it's references to lost girlfriends and the feel that it wouldn't be out of place in a film noir.

Their performance was of a headlining caliber. For a band that just a little over a year ago went on their first U. S. tour to get to a point where they are playing to over a thousand people a night is a little daunting. Nevertheless, the quality of the performance and, even more importantly, the honesty of the performers will garner them fans across the U. S. and abroad.

Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 11/14/08