Tuesday 23 December 2008

Review - The Gaslight Anthem - Old White Lincoln (Single)

The Gaslight Anthem - Old White Lincoln (Single)

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6 out of 10

I got quite scared when this song started with a sampled car engine starting (I would assume the eponymous Lincoln) and a bouncy drums and bass rhythm. For a second I thought I might have got a new Transplants CD by mistake. Fortunately, the unmistakable vocals of Brian Fallon then kicked in, and everything was alright. Actually, that's a blatant lie. Everything was alright, but as most people have already pointed out, you could quite easily think it was Bruce Springsteen at the microphone if he wasn't singing about "Your high-top sneakers and your sailor tattoos".

And to be honest, if you don't read the lyric sheet, those will probably be the only words you will actually remember, until the song comes back round on your playlist and you start half singing along to the occasional snippet without really thinking about it. The tune is quite catchy for your standard punk rock ditty (and I do mean standard, right down to the ABABCB structure, and the break before the predictably epic chord change), and the harmonised "Woah-ah-ohs" behind the chorus will help get it stuck in your head, but there's nothing here that raises it above a nice mid-set filler to plough through on autopilot.

Listen: www.myspace.com/thegaslightanthem

Tracklist:
1. Old White Lincoln

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