Not just Springsteen, but Dylan and Petty (who gets a chorus name check in 'Even Cowgirls Get The Blues') too. Secondly, they're the band with the most naked heartland-rock fixation.

If one were to term The '59 Sound as a 'punk ' record, it would be more in the Ramones sense (stripped-down, speedy musicality with an appreciation for pre-Beatles rock & roll) than in the Sex Pistols sense (outright rage/nihilism, with confrontational singing and lyrics) but even that isn't really accurate it's far too cleanly produced (but, thankfully, retains grit and energy) and has a greater tonal range. Firstly, they're the band who has most fully stripped away the harshness and meanness of their punk rock roots, while not abandoning the energy. The Gaslight Anthem, then, while certainly not the first band to do this sort of thing, are the best at it for a couple of reasons. Other examples of this 'movement': The Loved Ones, Bad Religion (sometimes), Social Distortion (at their least emo), This Charming Man, Against Me! (at their least shout-y). It hasn't been termed yet termed yet, but all these groups share a general aesthetic: soulful, grown-man vocals, alternately twinkling or clacking guitars, working class subject matter, at least two of the band members looking like auto mechanics, punk-ish energy/enthusiasm, an affinity for cleaned-up 50's nostalgia, slight nods to old-school country and the lead singer having a penchant for hair grease and sleeve tattoos. Certainly, that characterization checks out (hell, 'Meet Me By The River's Edge' includes the lyric 'no surrender/my Bobby Jean') but there seems to be a slowly developing sub-genre of bands like this and it's rather an exciting prospect. The obvious start point for The Gaslight Anthem is Bruce Springsteen, more specifically, the Springsteen of Born To Run and prior, before the cynicism set in and he was creating grand lyrical mosaics out of everyday life. Why draw this comparison? More to say that, above everything else, music comes in all shapes, sizes and levels of quality, which are not mutually exclusive to one another, and The Gaslight Anthem come from a very specific musical place that might not appeal to all but certainly has a distinct legacy behind it. The '59 Sound, by contrast, feels like a musical postcard from a time that, if it ever existed at all, is long gone and, as such, it's all warm, mushy nostalgia and heart-on-sleeve working class sentiments backed up by fittingly scrappy, but never mean or overly aggressive, guitar rock. The records, while of similar quality level could scarcely be more different: 808s is all depressive, paranoid truths, delivered with an appropriately alien and synthetic musical backdrop it's harsh at points but altogether necessary and, despite its frigidness, it finds pockets of warmth within heartache that make it, ultimately, a life-affirming release. Two of the best albums that came out in 2008 were Kanye West's electro-pop experiment 808s and Heartbreak and The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound.

808s and heartbreak sweater