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Features First Person

Gaslight Anthem Lands No. 3 Spot On Billboard Hot 200

 

If you’ve been following You Sing I Write at all over the past four years then you know of my love for New Jersey punk rockers the Gaslight Anthem. In fact, it’d be fair to say that my obsession runs deep.

 

In college I worked with drummer Benny Horowitz at Rutgers University’s award-winning newspaper The Daily Targum. It was during that time that I realized my dream career of becoming a music journalist. I knew he was in a rock band but I was too into my pop music and boy bands to pay any attention. Fast forward to an internship and later freelance work at Rolling Stone in 2008 when Gaslight Anthem were featured in the magazine as a breaking band.

 

I still remember that day so vividly. Looking at the photo of Gaslight Anthem and thinking, “That looks a lot like Benny. What does the caption say?” It read Benny Horowitz. When I went home I IM’d everyone on my buddy list from college to see if they knew anything about his band, a group that was compared to Bruce Springsteen.

 

No one knew of Benny’s blossoming rock star career. So, I went to my closest record store to investigate (Virgin Megastore RIP) and bought a copy of The ’59 Sound and Sink or Swim. I instantly fell in love with the music, the stories and imagery in the songs.

 

 

Benny being featured in Rolling Stone was HUGE. It meant that it was possible and attainable to follow your dreams and make things happen. I knew I wanted to be a music journalist from the first time I watched Almost Famous and the first concert I covered in college for that very same paper I worked with Benny at.

 

Sometimes all it takes is one success story close to home to make you realize you NEED to pursue your dream. Seeing Benny succeed was a confirmation. If he can do it, so can I. What do I have to lose?

 

After numerous failed interview attempts I finally interviewed Benny on the phone this year, just days after I attended the taping of their music video for “45” in Asbury Park. As luck would have it, my recorder didn’t work. But for some reason it didn’t matter. It was as if we just needed to have a conversation one on one to learn each other’s back story. I told him exactly what I just wrote (in fewer words), and he revealed that the day he joined Gaslight Anthem he told himself it’d be the last band he would play in. If it didn’t work out he’d just have to settle for that boring 9-5 job and live in the suburbs.

 

“I think that’s why you hear that desperation on Sink or Swim,” he told me.

 

He and some of the other band members felt that the album might be the last album they ever made so they gave it their all. It’s funny how sometimes in your darkest hour something grandeur can be created.

 

 

Benny has gone on to become a member of my favorite band and even directed their latest video for “Handwritten.” Frontman Brian Fallon reflected on this in a recent interview, saying, “It was a cool experience to be directed by your friend who you’ve known for 6-7 years. You’re watching him blossom into another facet of his personality.”

 

That’s exactly how I feel seeing Benny rock all the big stages on a nightly basis.

 

So now you know where my obsession of Gaslight Anthem comes from. It’s something even bigger than their music. It’s knowing that it’s possible for dreams to come true firsthand.

 

The boys continue their ongoing success having landed No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 200 chart this week for their latest album Handwritten which is the chart’s highest debut with 40,000 sold. I have a feeling this is just the beginning for them.

Categories
CD Reviews

Five Albums to Prolong Your Summer

Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

Labor Day has come and gone and as much as we’d like to deny it, autumn is officially here. While it may be time to pack up that bikini, there’s no need to turn the music down. With tunes this good, who said summer has to be over?

Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.

The E.N.D., short for The Energy Never Dies, does just that. Released in June, many of the tracks could be heard in clubs and parties all summer long. In fact, it didn’t seem right if the night ended having never heard at least one of Black Eyed Peas’ songs. Hit singles, “Boom Boom Pow,” “I Gotta Feeling,” and “Meet Me Halfway” are undeniably 2009 summer anthems. With their electrifying dance beats, catchy choruses and synth-fused tracks, Black Eyed Peas prove they still know how to get the party started.

Colbie Caillat – Breakthrough

If Colbie Caillat’s new album, Breakthrough, doesn’t emit summer nostalgia, I don’t know what will. You can practically hear the ocean waves and smell the sea salt as she’s singing current radio hit “Fallin’ For You” and moving opening track, “I Won’t.” Of course, that could be because she wrote the album while vacationing in Hawaii. Songs like the laidback acoustic “Droplets,” featuring co-singer/songwriter Jason Reeves, and emotional “I Never Told You” are a breath of fresh air. Bet you can’t help but reminisce about that summer romance.

The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound

Jersey’s own the Gaslight Anthem have had quite the summer. Having toured the globe in support of their incredibly well received sophomore effort, The ’59 Sound, the band also shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury Festival in England. If there was one album that epitomized driving down the shore with the top down and radio blasting, it would be this one. Tracks like “Great Expectations,” “Here’s Lookin’ At You, Kid” and “Backseats” are filled with vivid imagery and descriptive narratives of failed relationships, lost youth and somber regrets masked by energetic musical accompaniment. With a punk rock feel combined with that classic Springsteen sound, The ’59 Sound references those long summer days and endless summer nights.

Gloriana – Gloriana

The country outfit’s debut self-titled release encompasses upbeat, high energy songs bound to get the crowd on their feet. This is no summer campfire music. Currently on the road supporting Taylor Swift, the four-piece, made up of brothers Tom and Mike Gossin, Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball, are sure to change the everyday music lover’s opinion on country. Catchy hit single “Wild At Heart” has been gaining attention throughout the summer, garnering them best single by a new country act in 2009 while tracks like “The Way It Goes” are sure to be just as successful. With fitting fiddle, steel and guitar accompaniment along with the bands’ emotive lyrics, Gloriana is sure to win over music fans everywhere.

Sean Paul – Imperial Blaze

The reggae king is back with his 20-track summer release, Imperial Blaze. Including smash club-centric tracks like “So Fine,” “Now That I’ve Got Your Love” and “Press It Up,” Sean Paul continues to prove his success as a producer and solo reggae artist. At a press conference earlier this summer, Paul talked of his new single. “I think [“So Fine”] is a perfect summer giant. It’s very bouncy. I usually cover stuff that you can hear in the clubs, in the cars. It’s raunchy but also sounds smooth. It has a cool attitude.” After listening to the track, I couldn’t agree more. In fact, most of Imperial Blaze has that same flavor: jams that make you want to get out on the dance floor.

What do you think? What albums did I leave out that should be considered? What’s your favorite summer album?

Categories
Song of the Week

Song of the Week: “The ’59 Sound”

Back in October I featured The Gaslight Anthem as my “Band of the Week.” Since then, they’ve been featured on many Best of 2008 lists for their album, The ’59 Sound. I’ve been listening to the album myself continuously this past week and highly recommend it if you haven’t picked it up yet.

“The ’59 Sound” was declared one of Rolling Stone‘s “100 Best Singles of the Year” and I keep hearing it everywhere I go — most recently during a set change at Highline Ballroom. Check out the music video for it below and be sure to catch the band on “The Late Show with David Letterman” next Friday!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1lq40tR72Q]