The new release of The Gaslight Anthem was one of the releases I was really waiting for. The ’59 Sound is one of the best albums of all times for me and so I was really looking forward to hear new music from this band.

I must admit that I had big problems at the beginning. My first impression was boring. And after I’d listened to it about 3 or 4 times I stuffed it back into my CD shelf and just ignored it there. Disappointed.

About four weeks later I decided to give it a second chance and to my surprise it was a totally different feeling. It’s a grower. Every time I listened to it afterwards made me like it more and more. So finally the whole album was stuck in my head and in my car for weeks until I could figure out which songs are going to make it into my Gaslight Anthem playlist for my iPod. It’s smoother than their first records but nevertheless a great one. My favourite songs of it are definitely “The Spirit of Jazz”, which proved to be a lasting catchy tune and “Old Haunts”. Those are followed by “American Slang”, “Boxer” and “The Diamond Church Street Choir”. Latest was one of those songs that made it so difficult for me to like the record from the beginning on and finally it’s one of my favourite. Weird. I can’t explain it, but that’s the way it is.

1. American Slang
2. Stay Lucky
3. Bring It On
4. The Diamond Church Street Choir
5. The Queen of Lower Chelsea
6. Orphans
7. Boxer
8. Old Haunts
9. The Spirit of Jazz
10. We Did It When We Were Young

Additionally I have to say that The Gaslight Anthem are an incredible live band. In my ranking of great live bands they are the one to follow Pearl Jam. Anybody who has the chance to see them live, go! I took friends with me to the Cologne show that had never listened to their music before and those were absolutely flashed (and ended up in buying the CDs – perfect).

I bought the „I Was Born“ – EP of the Menzingers via I-Tunes in March due to a recommendation and I loved it from the very beginning. So it was absolutely natural that I was looking forward for the full release in April and I ordered directly from Red Scare Industries a small label in Chicago.

The whole album is absolutely awesome. They really rock and I played it quite a lot at work, during diving or during work-out’s in the gym. It’s a fun record and for me it was the most positive surprise of 2010. I wouldn’t have expected to love it that much. I quite hope they’ll stay with Red Scare for a little longer, but as that record was such a success I somehow fear they will end up with a bigger label  for the next album.

My favourite songs of „Chamberlain Waits“ probably are:

• Who’s Your Partner (strong opener)
• I Was Born (the beginning reminded me of Alkaline Trio’s Emma, awesome song)
• Time Tables
• So It Goes
• Come Here Often

But as already mentioned there’s no song on the album that is not great.

The tracklist goes as follows:

1. Who’s Your Partner
2. I Was Born
3. Home Outgrown
4. Deep Sleep
5. Time Tables
6. Male Call
7. Tasker-Morris-Station
8. So It Goes
9. No We Didn’t
10. Rivalries
11. Come Here Often?
12. Chamberlain Waits

and by the way..nice that The Menzingers decided to put the song that was responsible for the album’s name at the end of the album and not as obviously common on position one, especially as Chamberlain Waits is a ballad and definitely not prestigious for the album and would have given a wrong impression of the rest.

Unfortunately The Menzingers didn’t tour mainland Europe this year. They only played concerts in the UK and when the UK dates were published it was told that they would play mainland Europe, so I didn’t get a UK ticket for a show. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to see them play live in 2011.