By Matt Walker, April 2008 

Señor and the Queen, Sabot Productions

The Gaslight Anthem’s debut album, which came out last year, was a solid first effort full of great lyrics, catchy melodies and well-written songs. And this EP picks right up where Sink or Swim left off.

 Although these guys came out of New Jersey’s punk scene, they are just as much Springsteen as they are Lifetime and they provide a solid bridge between both worlds. Plus, they are a relatively new punk band that has been getting a bit of attention lately whose music stays away from the predictable, done-to-death format seen on Warped Tour stages every summer.

Gaslight strikes a great balance between high-energy anthemic choruses and melodic Americana-tinged verses, largely due to vocalist/guitarist Brian Fallon’s lyrics. Fallon turns late New Jersey nights into what seems like an idealistic string of dance parties, encounters with girls named Maria and long music-filled drives.

The straightforward energy of the opening title track quickly gives way to the more dynamic, “Wherefore Art Thou Elvis,” with tension-building verses that explode into the most memorable chorus on the album: “Walking in my old man’s shoes with my scientist heart / Got a fever and a beaker and a shot in the dark.” The bouncy “Say I Won’t (Recognize)” almost feels like a ‘50s dance number with Fallon singing, “We’re having a party, everybody’s swinging / Tonight won’t you come down, don’t make me dance all night alone.”

The album closes perfectly with the subdued “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts,” where Fallon sounds more like the Boss than ever as he quietly sings about listening to records and spending late nights with friends: “We sing with our heroes 33 rounds per minute / We’re never going home till the sun says we’re finished / I’ll love you forever if I ever love at all.”