Gaslight Anthem delivers familiar fare with verve

Published 6:50 pm Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Gaslight Anthem will release “American Slang” on Tuesday, the follow-up to its 2008 critical breakthrough, “The ’59 Sound.”

TRIVIA: The rock group formed in New Brunswick, N.J., and counts Bruce Springsteen as a chief influence.

STANDOUTS: The band tosses some finger snaps onto the beat of “The Diamond Church Street Choir,” a track that fuses 1950s rock and 1960s soul with the group’s own punk style.

FANS DIG: Leather jackets

ANDY SAYS: The Gaslight Anthem sounds like a group that believes in the healing power of rock ’n’ roll. They play songs about heavy-souled, broken-hearted, blue-eyed teens. Sure, it’s not exactly bold new ground, but the group delivers the material with such brisk confidence that it may as well be.

GRADE: A-minus

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com