There probably isn't an answer to this question, or perhaps simply a bias one. I, for one, would agree with the late, great music hack, Lester Bangs. The literary junkie once penned the following statement that holds the honest truth behind our reasoning and begins to pave way to the construction of a predictably long-winded answer.
'The main reason we listen to music in the first place is to hear passion being expressed...'
For an unanswerable question, that's not a bad answer. Passion, ey? sounds about right. There's nothing more desirable than seeing a band bellow their hearts out with real soul and meaning, the ache of heartbreak, the pain of loss etc. etc. I mean, that's probably what makes this whole deal worthwhile and as exciting as it can be. When passion's delivered in this way, heartfelt and purely, you know it's real and authentic - and that could be the most rewarding feeling in the world.
Passion, however, is a loose pathway of problems in the fickle music biz of today when acts are picked up quicker than Lindsay Lohan fuck tokens and dropped faster than an Ordinary Boys comeback record - thus passion's become sparse and almost mythical as we loose faith in this industry and the hum-drum, monotonous acts who inhabbit it.
In a Channel 4 interview with Courteeners frontman and songsmith, Liam Fray, the surprisingly wise twenty-something singer talked of a recent festival experience of his that pretty much hit the button. Fray spoke of countless bands who graced an unnamed festival stage with their egos in hand and a lacklustre collection of beige tunes in the other, rambling on like everyone was there to see them, a fact obviously misconstrued in the festival experience. Fray stated how only a small percentage of the crowd would actually be there to watch that particular band so why settle for that - win the other fuckers over! You've got an opportunity that many would give their right bollock for, so play your hearts out, show some soul, show some vehemence and for gods sake, show some fucking passion!
Sadly this idealistic vision is just a crumbling dream of musical hopefuls, like myself, who for some screwed-up reason still have faith in the rock and roll world.
Passion was rife when rock and roll was breeding like a troupe of horny rabbits in the 60s and 70s because that was all people had to give them hope. Certain individuals like Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen had something to sing for, something worth fighting for, something so fantastically soulful that they had an unwritten obligation to write these aggro epics about - but now we live in a hand fed generation of settled prick-wits who get what they want when they want, so what's the point?
Thankfully for us New Jersey's Gaslight Anthem think we've got something worth loving and worth singing for. Brian Fallon and co have been hailed by the press and the critics as this years Hold Steady, a working class gang of rock 'n' lust story telling romantics, but they're a lot more than that, they're a gateway to the dying dream that rock and roll has the ability to construct for us.
Primarily it's their songs - duh, obvious! but it's true. Their romanticised vision of endless summer nights and sweeping relationships with young beauties who grace your life with their angle-like presence depict what everyone is searching for. Poetically construed over a variety of smash and grab, distorted punk-rock, plaid shirted anthemic punches but also, and rather effortlessly, over the delicate pickings of a simple acoustic guitar. Much in the way that Springsteen could unsuspectingly blow your gonads off with a power-thrusting version of 'It's So Hard To Be A Saint In This City' and then quickly slow the mood with an aching tickle of dainty wisdom in something like 'Atlantic City', these boys have this exact same, and rather rare, ability.
For instance. The nostalgic swoons heard on 'Blue Jeans And White T Shirts' from their eponymous e.p are completely contrasted by the stomping acceleration of the cascading esoteric 'Backseat' from their most recent album 'The '59 Sound'. And although these two songs appear at two totally different ends of the spectrum they're much the same in that they provide an honest story of hope, a love for something untouchable and they take you on a journey.
Alongside their catalogue of street-wise yearning sagas comes the fact that singer-songwriter and guitarist Brian Fallon is the most charismatic man in music right now. A good lookin' young spotlight hugging individual, he's a real rock star. His husky Americana vocals scream hometown pride, tattooed with sleeves of alluring beauty and always grinning ear-to-ear, he embellishes an infectious enthusiasm that's near impossible to shake off.
Better than this though, he's a humble enchanting type. Never out spoken and always grateful, Fallon resembles a fifties movie star of the people - a heroic figure of Utopian aspiration he gleams a ray of promise. Try and fight this fact and you're pretty fucked because he's totally and utterly undeniable, mesmerizing and charmingly hypnotic.
While at Glastonbury this year I was lucky enough to see The Boss enter stage right during the Gaslight's set to help Fallon blast through 'the 59 sound'. This was a truly euphoric moment that saw the past accompany the present. Old heroes joining hands with new heroes, and the reason that this was so special was that it created a rapturous atmosphere that saw both individuals elated to simply be playing music together. It's an old fashioned analogy but it really was authentic and in particular, refreshing. It's not often you see bands that excited but boy oh boy when they are you feel it too.
The video below is from Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park. This happened on the Sunday of Glastonbury so I was unable to attend. I've posted this video instead of the Glastonbury one because it's better quality and I think Fallon and The Boss go at it a little harder.
It's lyrics like 'We sing with our heroes 33 rounds per minute, we're never going home until the sun says we're finished' and 'honey we came to dance with the girls with the stars in their eyes...never break their hearts, never make them cry' that inject that illicit nostalgia back into music, because lyric wise, the thing that's going to touch an audience is stories of the past, dead and gone heroes, lost romances etc. etc.
In between songs Fallon loves nothing more than to talk to the audience. Talk about the songs, his life, his influences and all that jazz and this is something that seems to have died out. It's become - get in there, play the set and fuck off. When you fall in love with a band you fall in love with everything about them and therefore you want to feel like you know the people crafting your musical fantasies and why they do so. Lets face it, you're not going to get La Roux having a chat with an audience, she's got a job to do and you ain't getting anything else out of her so don't even try!
In the interview below you can begin to see Fallon's gentle and reserved old fashioned grace.
I think that come 2010 it'll all be in full flow. The boys already have a back catalogue containing one four track e.p and two albums so we can hope for a third on the horizon. It took Springsteen the release of his third fell length studio album (Born To Run) to really grab the attention of the world, so what's to say this is going to be any different? I'm hopeful in Fallon. He's a visionary and a talented young song writer who is clearly only getting better. With that in mind, take it away boys...
