He emerges from American Slang as a man who couldn't assemble an Ikea bookcase without getting the instructions tattooed on his heart while rememberin' the good times, before flat-pack furniture took the fire of his youth, when the diamond romeos in the alleyways sang sha-la-la to the uptown queens. It's there in his vocal style and, especially his lyrics, which transform blue-collar life into a world of epic metaphors and grandiose flourishes – "American girls, they want the whole world," he cries at one point, which given that only 28% of them actually own passports seems a bit of a sweeping statement. Fallon may not be the first artist to bear Springsteen's influence, but he's probably the most explicitly indebted. The net effect was to increase sales of their second album The '59 Sound by 200%, and create an unexpected air of anticipation around its follow up.Īnyone wondering why the Boss took such an interest doesn't have to examine American Slang too deeply. No one in Britain except the readers of Kerrang! seemed to care much about the New Jersey quartet until last year's Glastonbury, when their biggest influence, Bruce Springsteen, unexpectedly took to the stage with them, before inviting lead singer Brian Fallon on stage during his headlining slot to perform No Surrender. The Gaslight Anthem may be the exception that proves the rule. Like Noel Gallagher's doomed efforts to interest the world in a band called Proud Mary and Paula Abdul's attempt to turn the cartoon cat from the Opposites Attract video into a major recording artist, here was evidence of the public's on-going resistance to artists who arrive bearing the patronage of more established stars. Someone within the music industry saw those pap shots of her staggering around Camden Town at 4am, crying, covered in blood, with her wig on backwards and thought: "That's CEO material right there – she certainly seems like the kind of responsible young women I'd trust to run a business." There was a burst of publicity for her first signing – her goddaughter – but not much in the way of sales. L ast year, Amy Winehouse was gifted her own boutique record label.
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