Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Gaslight Anthem, The
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 2014
Length: 41:15
Rating: 3/5
The fifth studio album from The Gaslight Anthem marks a bigger stylistic departure from the previous four records. »Handwritten« did hint at possible expressive cues for a stylistic shift, but »Get Hurt« fully realizes them. It goes from cozying up to heartland rock anthemics, which on the new album for the first time in the band’s career clearly overpower the alternative rock elements, all the way to indie rock and pop rock calm (Underneath the Ground, Sweet Morphine, Halloween). This transition goes hand in hand with a strongly personal, confessional note running through the album’s messages. They reflect singer Brian Fallon’s struggle with all the inner demons that needed to be driven out for good.
The opener Stay Vicious (spiced with a bit of post-grunge in the verse) doesn’t yet fully tip you off to where the dog is buried this time, but what follows is a bunch of anthem-salted songs at a mid or slow tempo. The guys brought Arctic Monkeys producer Mike Crossey into the studio, and for the first time the band handles programmed sampling more decisively and, especially in the quiet moments, fills the available space in the sound with layers of synths (Red Violins, Get Hurt). Between the predictable form and arrangements, the missing dose of noise and rebellious bitterness from the albums »American Slang« and »The 59′ Sound« (which would have made up for the triviality and predictability of the compositions), and the dominant, front-and-center personal confessions of singer Brian Fallon, the album at times feels like Fallon recording a solo studio album with a bunch of hired legionnaires. Given that the album is really Fallon’s reckoning with the demons of the past, such as the split from a life partner, courtroom showdowns and rehab (Stray Paper, Break Your Heart, Selected Poems), it might have been more fitting to release a proper solo album instead, since ditching the alternative rock stance is just too much. Or let’s say, rather, alt rock elements bowing to the dominance of heartland rock anthemics. A swerve like this was only a matter of time for The Gaslight Anthem.
The closing stretch should have delivered a good deal more rock fury, and even Dark Places (which wraps up the “official” part of the album) doesn’t get there with a full-blooded finish. The deluxe version then tacks on three more songs, all drifting in calm indie pop/rock waters, and given how alike they are, one would have been plenty. With this “extension” of three deluxe tracks, the band itself obviously sensed the more intense sonic transition and so labeled them as bonus tracks.
With a clear conscience we can say that with »Get Hurt« we got the most sophisticated album of The Gaslight Anthem’s career. There’s nothing outright wrong with it. The songs have an optimized dose of adapted musicality, the instantly striking swagger of Fallon’s relived delivery of new poetry, and a sense that the band approached the writing and recording with just the right amount of heart and commitment, which makes up for a lot (especially the instantly infectious 1000 Years). Fans of the band’s early period won’t be too thrilled with this one, but looking back at what the band has done so far, always effectively weaving post-grunge elements into an alternative rock stance and partly successfully stepping into the line of succession of the “Jersey Shore sound” for new times, not to mention Fallon’s collaborations with Springsteen, the content of »Get Hurt« as a whole is in no way surprising. Let’s just hope such musical experiments don’t carry them down the road where the latest albums of their New Jersey compatriots Bon Jovi ended up: total conceptual and expressive blandness, at the cost of sacrificing the recognizable sound and style of those first albums.
Lineup
Brian Fallon – vocals, guitar
Alex Rosamilia – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Alex Levine – bass guitar, backing vocals
Benny Horowitz – drums, percussion, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Sharon Jones – backing vocals
Ian Perkins – guitar, backing vocals
Natalie Prass – backing vocals
Production
Mike Crossey
Tracklist
1. Stay Vicious (3:33)
2. 1,000 Years (3:38)
3. Get Hurt (3:43)
4. Stray Paper (2:48)
5. Helter Skeleton (3:13)
6. Underneath the Ground (4:05)
7. Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (2:50)
8. Red Violins (3:20)
9. Selected Poems (2:53)
10. Ain’t That a Shame (3:02)
11. Break Your Heart (4:20)
12. Dark Places (3:44)
13. Sweet Morphine *
14. Mama’s Boys *
15. Halloween *
*….bonus tracks included on the “deluxe” edition of the album
