The Gaslight Anthem - Señor and the Queen EP
  1. The Gaslight Anthem
  2. Señor and the Queen EP
  3. Sabot Productions
  4. myspace.com/thegaslightanthem

The Gaslight Anthem - Señor and the Queen EP

We’re having a party; everybody’s swinging…
Tonight, won’t you come down out of your tower?
Don’t make me dance all night alone.
‘Cause everybody’s shaking like the end of the world,
And everybody’s waiting on the end of the world.
And I ain’t got a friend, baby, left in the world…
Don’t make me dance all night alone.

1. Señor and the Queen
2. Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?
3. Say I Won’t (Recognize)
4. Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts

The Gaslight Anthem don’t waste time being fancy, and so neither will I. Right now, this is my album of the year, and the fact that it’s not even truly an album does not bother me in the least. This EP is perfect. It’s sad and nostalgic punk that sounds something like Rise Against becoming a Springsteen cover band…with maybe a less Chuck Ragan-ish Chuck Ragan as frontman. (It’s late, and I can’t think of anything better presently.) From the driving and upbeat title track to the pessimistic-yet-danceable “Say I Won’t (Recognize),” quoted above, and from the plaintive “Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?” to the passionate and beautiful closer (guaranteed to get all the lighters waving — Gaslight Anthem fans probably don’t settle for cellphones), “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts,” the Gaslight Anthem play memorably, they play emotionally, and they play perfectly in the background as you’re drowning whatever sorrows you happen to have. This band is hyped a lot, but they are not in the least overrated; the Gaslight Anthem are playing punk better than most everyone else right now. I won’t be surprised if this EP is the second best release of this year, finishing second only to the forthcoming Gaslight Anthem effort, which, if this is any indication, will amaze us all.

10/10

RIYL: Hot Water Music, The Boss, Social Distortion, Rise Against, Gasoline Heart, Billy Bragg, or any punk music ever. (And no, kiddies, All Time Low doesn’t count.)

Still we sing with our heroes thirty-three rounds per minute.
We’re never going home until the sun says we’re finished.
And I’ll love you forever if I ever love at all…
With wild hearts, blue jeans, & white T-shirts…