The Gaslight Anthem
Handwritten
Mercury Records (2012)
Sounds Like: The Gaslight Anthem, except, y’know, older
Raiting: 6.5/10
At this point in their career, it’s pretty clear who The Gaslight Anthem is musically. They have refined their sound to the point that when a song comes on, you are never confronted with the uncertainty of “Is that…?” Handwritten does nothing to upset this sound. It is pure Gaslight Anthem through and through with those familiar “whoa oh”s, and moments of heavy-hearted reflection, and classic rock choruses, and songs about nights that can’t be forgotten and favorite songs that will always be remembered.
It’s a nice formula most of the time. It’s given us a couple of good records and a lot of memorable songs, but it’s still that: a formula. Every song, while performed wonderfully and constructed carefully, slowly makes its way into the fairly predictable category. The record-nostalgia and glorification of the road strung through a pretty melody starts to lose some of its effect after a while.
The argument can be made that the “honesty” of the sound makes it more consistent and that it shouldn’t be seen as a negative. But it’s hard not to look to “The Boss” as someone who never compromised his essential qualities, to this day wearing the blue collar persona proudly, and yet still managed to evolve as a lyricist and move in very different directions as a songwriter.
This familiarity is certainly not helped by the fact that this may be the least dynamic Gaslight Anthem record to date. Through most of the record there’s a blanketing evenness, doing little to build tension or provide relief, with the exception of moments in “National Anthem” and “Desire” where the familiar qualities of the songs are overwhelmed by the delicate and desperate delivery that is far too rare, letting you ignore all else to just take in the broken beauty of it all.
For the most part, this album falls into comfortable areas compositionally and sonically without quite cashing in on The Gaslight Anthem promise of a chorus that will shake you. I was truly curious to see how they would progress on this album, and if they could do so without sacrificing hooks. But a few too many songs about listening to the radio buried a handful of beautiful moments on Handwritten and changed the question from how they will evolve to whether or not they can.
-Patrick Caddick
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