Photo of the Gaslight Anthem by Kelsey Ayres
Audiences have every right to be wary of band reunions. For each artist with a genuine desire to reconnect, both with fans and with themselves, there’s another with ulterior motives, aiming to cash in. The Gaslight Anthem’s final pre-reunion album, 2014’s Get Hurt, was an interesting experiment in pushing forward their sound that ultimately didn’t push far enough. When the group disbanded afterwards, and in the wake of frontman Brian Fallon’s successful, and largely satisfied-sounding, solo career, the prospects of the Gaslight Anthem getting back together seemed not only dim, but increasingly pointless. Fortunately, History Books, the Gaslight Anthem’s first album in nine years, is a pleasant surprise borne of honest intentions. That wouldn’t matter much, however, if the material wasn’t up to snuff. Fortunately, it is.
Fallon and company wisely understood that for this reunion to be worth more than a footnote and a paycheck, it had to offer something new. The world, and the group’s increasingly middle-aged fan base, probably didn’t need another album steeped in romantic film noir and denim-clad pulp novel imagery. Instead, Fallon wrote a batch of songs that filters the band’s essential romance through more mature themes of gratitude, self-worth, and how adult life is often a see-saw of wins and losses. Lead single “Positive Charge” is a raucous, smiling sigh of relief, a survivor’s celebration of making it through tough times and coming out intact on the other side. It offers an excellent lyric that serves as the record’s thesis statement: “How I’ve missed you, and it’s good to be alive.” On the flip side of the coin, the title track takes a grimacing, necessary look back at what was endured to arrive at that appreciative place. The song also features vocals from a gloriously weathered sounding Bruce Springsteen, a perfect guest spot for a New Jersey band who has always had more than a bit of the Boss in them.
Aside from a scattering of tasteful keyboards to color the tracks, History Books doesn’t stray wildly from the band’s trademark mix of punk, indie bounce, 1950s rock, and storytelling noir. But it is filled with small touches and evolutions, particularly in Alex Rosamilia’s guitar sounds. Album opener “Spider Bites” doesn’t so much roar as it skulks; the gorgeous “Autumn” features a distorted twang; “Little Fires” is animated by a careening solo. A song like “I Live in the Room Above Her,” which could have veered into self-parody, sounds like it could be about a man secretly pining for a woman from afar. But instead, it’s about a guy who lives upstairs from a vampire, wondering if he’ll be her next victim. It’s noir via Nosferatu.
The contemplative “Michigan, 1975” sounds like one of the slow, wistful songs Fallon tends to write to close out his solo albums. But here, its quiet folky rhythm is accentuated by guitars that sound somewhere between plucked piano strings and pellets of freezing rain hitting window panes. It’s also placed squarely in the middle of the album. The song is a great example of the intriguing way the entire album is both familiar and a series of curveballs. The record’s actual finale, the bittersweet “A Lifetime of Preludes,” is steeped in the shuffling inbetweens of regret, lamenting that there’s no true solace in ghosts.
History Books does the Gaslight Anthem’s legacy and their art proud. It’s worthy as a one-off, but could also serve as a springboard to an intriguing next chapter, should the group choose to write it. So throw on your winter coat, hop in the car, roll the windows down, and take a long drive with someone who truly knows you, and who’s been there through the worst and the better times. That sense of understanding between artist and audience is what fuels the Gaslight Anthem at its best, and that’s what History Books delivers, in a way that feels as if it’s grown along with you. As Fallon sings in “Spider Bites,” “we struggle for each other.” | Mike Rengel
