the complete story of the the making of American
Slang as told in interviews, tweets, photographs, etc.
compiled by Alexander for The Gaslight
Anthem Record
& 'album of the month' (Uncut magazine)
cover art first posted on the
Gaslight Anthem's MySpace site on 23 March 2010
'American
Slang'
Look what you started,
I seem to be coming out of my skin.
Look what you've forgotten here,
the bandages just don't keep me
in.
And when it was over, I woke up alone.
And they cut me to ribbons and taught
me to drive.
I got your name tattooed inside
of my arm.
I called for my father but my father
had died,
while you told me fortunes, in American
Slang.
Look at the damage.
The fortunes came for the richer
men,
while we're left with gallows,
waiting for us liars to come down
and hang.
And here's where we died that time
last year,
and here's where the angels and
devils meet.
And you can dance with the queen
if you need,
and she will always keep your cards
close to her heart,
before they tear you apart.
Once upon a time in New Jersey
...
22 August 2009 During a solo gig at the Court Tavern,
Brian is reported to have said that the next Gaslight Anthem album would
be a mixture of the Supremes, the Clash and Tom Waits.
22 September 2009 Brian tweets: "New songs, good shows!
Gearing up for the new record, writing on the tour everyday a little bit
[...]."
26 November 2009 12.08pm Brian tweets: "Happy thanksgiving
everybody! About to start reversals [sic; what would Freud make of it?]
on the new songs on the first! Can't wait! [...]."
26 November 2009 5.48pm Brian tweets: "New songs = Tom Waits
and early Clapton singing London Calling-era Clash with Social D as the
band, with Diana Ross on backup vocals."
11 December 2009 A new song, 'Bring It On', is performed
by the Gaslight Anthem at the Wellmont Theatre, Montclair, NJ.
30 December 2009 From Kerrang magazine:
How's the new album coming
along?
Brian Fallon (vocals): "It's pretty
much all I'm focused on right now. I just moved into my new apartment in
New York and since then I've been writing like crazy. It was like this
huge wave of inspiration came over me.'
What sparked the writing spree?
"The last tour we played was a huge
inspiration. All of a sudden we got into the blues. Benny [Horowitz] our
drummer has always been into American blues like Muddy Waters and he showed
me things like that I was, like, 'Yeah, this is cool but it sounds so raw.
How are we going to make that Sound modern?'. Then our guitar tech introduced
me to the [album] Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton. That brought me up
to speed on how they modernised the old blues sounds and we’ve taken that
and used it as an influence on this record."
Sounds intriguing - is it a big
departure?
"The songs, structurally, still have
that familiar feel so we haven't totally jumped off the deep end. I've
started playing piano too, which connects everything and brings it to a
whole new level. It's really exciting for us right now because it's a definite
progression - we didn't want to just make The '59 Sound, the sequel. You're
cheating people if you write the same record again but, at the same time,
you have your style and you can't abandon it. I was listening to Gallows'
Grey Britain and I thought that was a great shift in focus. The way Frank
[vocals] was talking about his country, I found that really interesting
and it totally sparked me on to writing about where I am from. We took
our cue from that, which made me think, 'What does America sound like?'."
Lyrically, what are these songs
about?
"A lot of this is about what has
happened to us in the last year, what it was like to grow up, how we got
here, about our friends who are still finding their ways in life. We haven't
succeeded to the point where our lives are all that different or that we
have a lot of money, despite achieving a lot. We've got out of our desperate
situations but we're still working. It's about what you do when you reach
your goals and what people do when their dreams don't come true. We've
turned more internally and tried to figure out what it is that really drives
us."
The '59 Sound really struck a
chord with people. Did that play on your mind while writing these songs?
"You can't analyse why your last
record hit home with people. Initially I thought about that a lot but you
can't write with that in mind. So you have to trust in your own abilities
and hope people receive it the same way. If I wrote more of the same and
people loved it but I hated it, what would that be worth? You have to stand
on your own feet, take in what you've learned and, if you've learned well,
then you will do well."
14 January 2010 The Express reports that
the Gaslight Anthem's third album is "slated to be released on June 15".
Brian is quoted as saying: "We're calling the record 'American Slang';
that's the best description of us. ['American Slang'] is a hyper-literal
album. These stories are coming out of my life and the reflections on the
things I've gotten as I've gotten older. It's more autobiographical, definitely
more direct. Not so shrouded in mystery. I'm not trying to confuse anyone
with a trail of images on this one. I think I have a better focus on what
to say to people."
24 January 2010 Brian tweets: "Entering the last
week of pre production! Studio here we come!"
24 January 2010 Brian tweets: "Day one of recording,
tomorrow... Here goes."
1 February 2010 The Gaslight
Anthem enter the studio (The Magic Shop, NYC - pics).
3 February 2010 Brian tweets: "Day three, Benny's
almost done the whole record in two days. Pretty awesome. I'll try to post
pictures tomorrow."
6 February 2010 Brian tweets: "And now we're on
to bass..."
8 February 2010 9.54pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "We're
about done with the bass guitar tracks, so that's drums and bass done.
Starting Brian's guitars Wednesday... Les Pauls crashing!!!!!"
8 February 2010 10.06pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Look
at him in his nice Ben Sherman. It's a good looking recording studio!"
+ photo (see image below)
9 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem [Brian] tweet:
"Today I probably found the best guitar sound ever heard. Tomorrow we're
gonna record it. 10 times."
10 February 2010 10.19pm Brian tweets: "Doing my guitars
now; it's harder to play when you stop playing 'cowboy chords'. And I'm
using 2 Dr Z remedys and three Les Pauls."
10 February 2010 10.22pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Brian
did guitars today, and more tomorrow. The city shut down from snow, but
not us, we work anyhow. Get some boots people, it's just snow."
11 February 2010 8.04pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Rythm
and Blues people... Make you dance." + photo (see
image below)
11 February 2010 8.11pm Brian tweets: "Recorded 98% of my
guitars today, it was awesome. [...]."
12 February 2010 A SideOneDummy press release confirms
that the new album will be called 'American Slang'.
12 February 2010 7.02pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Brians
guitars done...on to Alex... With more amps than maybe have ever been recorded
at one single time. Hmm... June, people, June 15th..."
12 February 2010 9.09pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Here's
the other room where we keep the cabinets and drums and secrets.... This
shot is from the load in day..." + photo (see image
below)
15 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Lighter
slide...." + photo (see image below)
15 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem's MySpace blog:
"The Recording Studio...fire
up the gravy....
In a couple hours I'll jump on the
train and go back to the studio we've been working at for the last couple
weeks. It's been an experience thus far, and we're all really excited
about how everything is shaping up. Take by take I'm hearing a more
completed version and getting happier with the result.
The mood is good, and to boot, somebody
there makes coffee all the time. There is literally a fresh pot every
time I want a cup, that shit is serious.
If I keep writing, I'll divulge secrets
I don't want to. Because I talk too much. But take it from
me, if you haven't seen Ted Hutt dancing like an early 80's British ska
kid while Alex R. lights incense and harnesses his guitar power animal.
Well, then you just haven't seen everything. Even if you thought
you did.
Oh, and Brian is adding teeth, and
I'm sadly subtracting.
Cheers!
Benny"
16 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Tapping
and tapping.... Drums, guitars, bass, guitars, vocals... Done. Now onto
harmonies etc..." + photo (see image below)
16 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "This
is Alex using a frantone hi ball, she's a good lady... This Is Benny explaining
something..." + photo (see image below)
16 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Ok,
actually that was Benny in that last one, here's Alex and the frantone..."
+ photo (see image below)
19 February 2010 From Paste magazine: [as
for the accuracy of this article, see the Gaslight Anthem's tweet of 20
February 2010.]
"The band’s forthcoming third studio
album, American Slang (out June 15 on SideOneDummy), includes songs
about someone who is not 'the greatest baseball player in the world' and
'a doctor that cured cancer.'
'American Slang is just what
we do. That's who we are,' Fallon says. 'You're presented with this American
Dream and all these American possibilities - and then there's the reality
of what actually happens with your life.'
American Slang speaks to what
Fallon calls 'surviving within your circumstances,' a lesson that the album
takes to heart. Now two weeks into recording, The Gaslight Anthem has been
experimenting gleefully on a collection of old amps to see which childhood
favorites they can emulate. 'It's really exciting, because you're finding
out the little secrets of the records you loved growing up,' Fallon says.
The end result takes cues from Tom
Waits, The Clash and The Supremes, and most of all from earlier Clapton
and Rolling Stones output - British blues and rock records inspired by
American ones. 'It’s almost like we're bouncing it back this time,' Fallon
says. 'This [record] is really the one where we said, "All right, well,
we've got our influences. They'll speak naturally, but what do we have
to say on our own? What does it feel like to put on our own shoes and clothes?
What do we sound like, and what's our story?"'"
19 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Pretty
excited, it's starting to sound like a record!"
20 February 2010 [This
tweet relates to the article published in Paste magazine on 19 February
2010 (see above).]
The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "We're
still looking for the song about a doctor or a baseball player... hmm,
must be on a different band's record."
23 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Almost
done recording, we're begining to celebrate...modestly, but it's bubbling
up, we're very excited..."
24 February 2010 5.01pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Begining
the final touches..." + photo (see image below)
24 February 2010 5.02pm The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "More
final touching..." + photo (see image below)
26 February 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "These
10 songs are the songs we've been trying to write our whole career. Thing
are looking up ladies and gentlemen... one week to go."
1 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "We did
some finishing vocal touches today courtesy of Pete and Bryan from the
Bouncing Souls, Dave from Vision and Tommy Gunn from Communication Redlight!
Awesome!"
Oh, cause that's kind of our life.
That's like the banner over our life story. Like the backhanded American
thing. [...] The American dream is kind of a weird thing cause it's like
a funny thing that you're presented with. There's all these possibilities
that you could do, but none of those really happen...not very often. It
doesn't really happen like that. You kinda live the American life and there's
the American dream, but what the reality is is kinda the American slang.
[...] I think that part of what I was talking about with the American thing.
I think that that resonates with everybody. If you're from Germany or Russia
or Hawaii, it kinda resonates with you. It's just our specific story so
that's why we called it 'American Slang' rather than anything else.
What was the recording process
like? I read something on Myspace... apparently you guys had lots and lots
of coffee.
Yeah, we're almost done. We're still
in here but we're kinda laying down the last things. It was really cool
because this time we practiced. We've had time to practice. We got off
tour, had a couple months to write and practice really a lot. And then
we went in the studio fully prepared whereas normally our records were
done in the middle of tours. Like we would take breaks on tour, and then
continue on tour.
What does that do for you as a
musician? Does it give you a bit more breathing room?
Yeah it does and it really lets you
get what you're trying to do across, so you don't look back on things and
go, 'Man, you know, if I had time I could've figured out this part.' This
guitar part that maybe I couldn't have played at the time, but given an
extra week or something, I would've had time with that. And the cool thing
is that with the guys at SideOneDummy, they're very cool. They said that
stuff without us having to ask for it. It was like, 'Listen man, we got
you all this time now. You can go sit back and record and it'll be cool.
You can take as much time as you need.' And we were like, 'wow, that's
awesome. I didn't even ask you for that.' And they were like, 'No, no,
it's totally cool man. Just do it.'
I've read things about a doctor
who discovers a cure for cancer, I've read stuff about baseball players...
What I said in that interview particularly
was... I was kinda describing the American dream. How you don't grow up
to be the world's greatest baseball player, or you don't grow up to be
the doctor who cures cancer. You grow up to be you. And whatever it is
that you do, a lot of times you fall short of these dreams that you have
when you're a kid. The songs are about the dream, not baseball players
and doctors. Maybe the phone line was funny that day. It was kinda what
I said, but there's no songs about that. But that happens. It's a phone
conversation. People get things confused sometimes. It's alright. That
lady is a nice lady. She didn't do that on purpose.
Is the album art ready for this
album?
We're working on it. Now it's starting
to become a mix between us and the guy who does our posters... a guy named
El Jefe. Not from NOFX. This is a guy from DC. He does a lot of artwork
for us and he's kinda putting it together. Right now we're shooting him
photos of things that means something to us or anything local, that's like
local to the four of us. We're snapping photos every day. And we're gonna
get some photos and make kind of a little collage. Not a collage in the
sense of where it's like all jambled up together. It's gonna be squares.
Like little tiny squares I think. That's the idea right now, and we'll
see if that pans out. It's through our eyes and I think that's the cool
thing about it is that the pictures you're gonna see on the record cover...
that's pictures we took. We didn't hire some fancy-schmansy photographer.
2 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem take a night
off to play 'Baba O'Riley' at the Who tribute concert at Carnegie Hall,
New York.
3 March 2010 RollingStone.com reports:
"We've been influenced by
early Stones," says frontman Brian Fallon of the LP, which Gaslight are
cutting in New York. Fallon compares the title track to 'Gimme Shelter'
and says 'The Queen of Chelsea' recalls the Clash's 'Straight to Hell'
and the Pretenders' 'Brass in Pocket.' "It would be easy to write The '59
Sound again," says Fallon. "We wanted a new road map."
4 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "I think
we're done. We're in love with this record. We hope you all will as well."
+ photo (see image below)
5 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Packing
up the studio... Goodnight. On to mixing, mastering, pressing, and releasing."
6 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "And
we're gone... Into the hands of mixing it goes..." + photo (see
image below)
20 March 2010
[cover date] Brian talks at length about the
new album to Kerrang! magazine:
Extracts:
The New Jersey rockers -
vocalist/guitarist Brian Fallon, guitarist Alex Rosamilia, bassist Alex
Levine and drummer Benny Horowitz - invited K! to New York’s Magic Shop
recording studios to listen to three completed songs: Bring It On, The
Queen Of Lower Chelsea and the album’s title-track. Fans will be surprised
to hear that The Gaslight Anthem have moved away from the small town American
rock 'n' roll sound that characterised their 2008 breakthrough album, and
have instead incorporated arena-sized riffs into stomping verses and huge,
confident choruses, which look set to catapult the foursome to the next
level. Here, frontman Brian gives us an in-depth look into what shaped
their new record and why American Slang is their most personal album yet.
When did you start writing American
Slang?
We attempted to write over the summer
of 2009 on tour but I had a tough time because nothing was coming
out. From about June to November, I wasn't sure what was going to happen.
I was pretty stuck. I wasn't clear enough about what I wanted next and
how we were going to move on. I guess I had writer's block.
When did you get over that hurdle?
I had a breakthrough the day after
Thanksgiving. I wrote Bring It On and realised what the album was going
to be like. We wrote the whole thing through December and January.
How have the band progressed since
the '59 Sound?
On the last record, we had a lot
of '50s influences and anything else would get pushed out. But on this
record, we've made an effort not to deliberately bring in our influences
or push them to the front. I don't want to put out the same thing we did
before. So this time, the album is gonna sound more like The Gaslight
Anthem and less like the The Gaslight Anthem's record collections!
Was making that step forward something
that came naturally?
A lot of the really fast punk stuff
we used to do just wasn't fitting in any more. At first, we just banged
out stuff as fast and as energetic as we could but we realised the songs
really called for good players. We didn't do that by studio magic, we practised
it. We'd do it for six hours a day at rehearsal and then we'd go home and
do it on our own, too. We had to put the work in to make sure it was right.
What was the catalyst?
I've been getting into a lot of early
Eric Clapton stuff - like The Bluesbreakers and Derek And The Dominos -
and the thing with Clapton was that he was very interested in playing properly.
It can’t be off-time, it can't be too ragged, it’s got to be right.
That's the sort of idea I had for the new album. We also watched AC/DC's
Live At Donington DVD and that was pretty inspirational too, in terms of
technique. You could see how good they were as players.
With the change in musical direction,
does this mean your approach to storytelling has changed too?
It's easy to hide behind imagery
and use other bits of lyrics because it's time-tested, even though it was
honest and it was true. But now it's time to say it in [my] own words.
What would I say if I was writing letters, what slang words would [I] use,
how do [I] talk? That led me to tackle what I've been dealing with in the
background in my life for years but never really talked about because I
didn't want to deal with it or put it out in public. The old records were
all about 'we' and 'us', but this time, it's an extremely personal album.
It's a record about a boy trying to grow up and figure out what it is to
be a man.
22 March 2010 Alan Cross tweets: "Heard the new
Gaslight Anthem single, 'American Slang' (title track of CD due June 15).
Very good. Hear it on ExploreMusic radio Tuesday."
22 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Big
news, noon, Tuesday. NYC time... get ready..."
23 March 2010 The Gaslight Anthem's MySpace blog:
AMERICAN SLANG news coming
Tues Mar 23....
..Hey everyone, just a head's up:
we're going to be posting some pretty cool news (and other things you might
be interested in) concerning our upcoming album AMERICAN SLANG at around
noon NYC time today (Tuesday March 23rd).
23 March 2010 From the Gaslight Anthem's Facebook
page: "So we're doing this Facebook thing finally, after sitting
on the sidelines for a good long while. In the spirit of getting things
up and running, we're going to be posting some news (and other stuff...)
tomorrow at 11:30 am EST, right here. Check back then!"
23 March 2010 The cover art for American Slang
is posted on the Gaslight Anthem's MySpace and Facebook sites, as is the
track listing:
American Slang
Stay Lucky
Bring It On
The Diamond Church Street Choir
The Queen of Lower Chelsea
Orphans
Boxer
Old Haunts
The Spirit of Jazz
We Did It When We Were Young
The title track, 'American Slang',
is also posted as streaming audio (the lyrics later appear on Facebook
by popular request).
A cover art variant appears on Twitter.
23 March 2010 pm 'American Slang' is played on BBC
Radio 1 in the UK.
24 March 2010 From CMJ.com:
"'American Slang' is the
story of our lives," says Brian Fallon, Gaslight's rhythm guitarist and
lead vocalist. "It's the American life through the eyes of my upbringing,"
The track also serves as a sneak peek into what fans can expect from the
new album. "The new record, comparison-wise, is like the Clash's Give 'Em
Enough Rope, versus London Calling," Fallon tells CMJ. "Those are the kind
of changes we made. It's more focused and confident. We feel that we sound
like the Gaslight Anthem now. [...] I'm sure there are some things that
will remind [fans] of all our records," says Fallon. "[American Slang is]
a new record and a new time. It's not the same record. That was then, and
The '59 Sound was great for us, but this is now."
24 March 2010 From NME.com:
"All I can say is that the
songs sound really big! It sounds like a movie, it's sonically a lot bigger
than the last one," frontman Brian Fallon told NME.COM of the album.
He added: "Not bigger in an 'American Idiot' [Green Day album] where it's
like there's a play going on, but bigger in terms of bold statements. It
takes you on much more of a ride than the last one."
25 March 2010 From the Gaslight Anthem's Facebook
page: "Hey, thank you so so much to each of you for being so enthusiastic
about the new song and our upcoming album; we've been pretty blown away
by the response and feel very grateful for all of your support and excitement.
Wait til you hear the rest of the album when it comes out in June...the
best is yet to come:) We'll ...also be announcing N. American tour dates
in the near future, so keep checking back."
29 March 2010 Brian tells Xfm radio that "this
album we really pushed our Motown rythm section forward; this album is
meant to make the boys cry and the girls dance".
April 2010
Issue 134 of Rock Sound magazine
has a three page feature on the Gaslight Anthem in the studio, including
an interview with Brian about the making of the reccord. Here is
a photo from the feature and an extract from the interview:
When did you start writing this
album?
Well, I started writing this album
in June, but nothing was coming out. There was part of me that was killed
in the process of writing, this record took everything I had. It was really
difficult. I was searching for something; when I found it the songs poured
out but the searching part was a nightmare.
What did you find?
I thought I found that I couldn't
write any more songs, but that's not true. With this record we said that
we were going to stop blowing the trumpet of our influences, as our goal
and business before had been pushing those to the front of our music. If
we [were going to do this] it had to be ours with no one else having a
piece of it. If we couldn't do that then I was going to go away and just
keep my mouth shut. It was all or nothing, but that's just how I am. No
one features on this record - we have friends who came in to sing harmonies
and my mother sang on a B-side we were recording when she came to visit,
but none of them are highlighted. This is our record, no one else can have
a piece of it.
What do you hope people will take
from the record?
The discovery of what you are today
is a massive part of this record. 'American Slang' deals with things I
have never touched on, it takes in family issues and that sense of moving
on from some thing that was holding you back. With some issues we all have
choices to make - is this thing going to bury me my whole life or do I
cut it out? The record is about that and even though it has a lot of New
York references because we recorded here, it branches out so you could
be from anywhere and still relate to every song.
4 April 2010 Brian tweets: "So far I've got 9
out of 10 mixes from the record and I'm blown away. I think this is the
one to have. Just wait... I'll keep you posted."
6 April 2010 From the Gaslight Anthem's Facebook
page: "Our album's nearly done!! Artwork sorted? Check. Songs all
signed, sealed and delivered? Check. Tours getting sorted? Most definitely....more
news coming in that department in a few weeks...."
16 April 2010 Brian tweets: "Record is mastered!
Yes! Chelsea handler, you better like this!!! Feeling completed."
16 April 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Just
got back the final masters for the record, SOUNDS AMAZING! WHEN'S TOUR...
DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE GONNA FREAK OUT! "
16 April 2010
SideOneDummy tweet: "new @gaslight_anthem
album #americanslang is a damn near perfect record"
18 April 2010 The song 'Bring It On' is leaked
online.
19 April 2010 'American Slang', the album, is
leaked online in full. Please DO NOT email this site for further
details.
20 April 2010 Brian performs an acoustic version
of 'American Slang' on 101.9 WRXP This Morning.
23 April 2010 iTunes UK lists a bonus track: 'She
Loves You'
23 April 2010 Brian tells Spinner UK: "The record
is about the effects of childhood and the recent realizations of what that
all means. It's definitely about upbringing, about family -- men and boys
and fathers -- and that big struggle in growing up: what are you going
to do when everything works out and what are you going to do when it falls
to pieces?"
27 April 2010 SideOneDummy offer various American
Slang items for pre-order.
27 April 2010 A dedicated American
Slang site goes live, offering tour info, vinyl, posters, t-shirts,
etc.
8 May 2010 Brian talks to Spinnermusic.com:
"I was so used to just big,
open cowboy chords and strumming along, saying some words and that would
be a song," he says. "With this one, I was like, 'Imagine if we could write
songs that made people want to move instead of just blasting them in the
face with this big thing. What if we wrote songs that people could dance
to, like all these Stones songs and even the Clash.' It was a big thing
about writing riffs on the record." Basically, each song wasn't considered
done until the band and Hutt were "dancing and smiling in the room."
17 May 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Shooting
The American Slang video today, Kevin Custer Directing, Andy Diamond Destroying!"
18 May 2010 The Gaslight Anthem tweet: "Ok,
American Slang video filming DONE! We'll keep you updated as to when it's
gonna be out!"
May 2010
The 'July 2010' issue of Uncut
magazine features a full page review of American Slang, its 'album
of the month', which it gives a 5* rating.
"American Slang is
[...] an album of electrifying rapture, massive riffs, songs with verses
that sound like choruses and choruses that sound, yes, like anthems, meant
to be sung by multitudes. [...] American Slang delivers spectacularly
on all expected fronts. Everything that was great about The '59 Sound
is here, but the sound is even bigger, epic without getting blustery."
3 June 2010 In an interview with Ground Control,
Alex R. reveals the what went into the structure of the new album:
"We're all really big on
making sure that a record moves like a record; we all still believe that's
how it should be listened to, you sit down and you listen from beginning
to end. I don't think many people do that anymore, but we wrote it to move
like that; that's why we put 'The Queen Of Lower Chelsea' where we did;
because it's the end of Side A. We figured out the structure of the record
before we started writing the songs so that when we started writing the
songs and things started filling up, we started putting the songs in place;
like this song is the beginning of Side B, this other song should go in
the middle. We went like that and, when we got to the point where we only
had a couple of holes left, we knew what songs we had to write. It's probably
a really geeky way of writing a record, but we are [laughing]. We've always
just looked at it as the fact that we're presenting one thing; not ten
separate things."
3 June 2010 The Gaslight Anthem perform a short
set, including five songs from American Slang, at the World Cafe
Live (Downstairs), Philadelphia as part of the 10th annual Non-COMM music
industry conference.
3 June 2010 setlist ('Spirit' not
played)
14 June 2010 American Slang hits the stores
in the United Kingdom and elsewhere (except USA & Canada).
15 June 2010 American Slang is released
in the United States and in Canada. 'American Slang' is also the
free 'iTunes single of the week'.
The album's release show is at Irving
Plaza, NYC.
poster by El Jefe - photo by Michael
Sigle
16 June 2010 The Gaslight Anthem play 'Boxer'
on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and plug the album (see photo).
6 July 2010 The video to 'American Slang' is
released online.
15 July 2010 Benny talks to College Times
about the 'American Slang' video:
"This one went through a
lot of edits and a lot of different things to make different people happy,
but this one is pretty cool, I think. It's probably the favorite video
I've ever done. The only thing I worry about is that it's not like a 'Seinfeld'
episode, where somebody from Kansas is like "I just don't get this." It
is really local. The point of it is to show our version of 'American Slang'.
This is what we see every day and these are the contradictions and problems
that happen around here and very likely they're different somewhere else."
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