The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt

The Gaslight Anthem

Get Hurt

12 August 2014

Island

 

 

2.5 stars out of 5

 

Get Hurt is the fifth LP by The Gaslight Anthem, that roots-punk quartet who hail from the Bruce Springsteen State. Much of the album sounds like a cross between Born to Run and London Calling, which under normal circumstances would invoke incredulous raised eyebrows in reaction, but here only prompts a disinterested yawn or two. Seriously, you hear “Red Violins” just once and you’ll forget it for the rest of your life.

 

The Gaslight Anthem recorded Get Hurt in a room that contained recording equipment such as microphones for singing into, amplifiers for leaning guitars against, knobs for twiddling, and a microwave for reheating instant noodles. The band’s writing process included one or more members of the band writing words with a pen or pencil onto paper which may have been in the form of loose sheets or perhaps bound into a notebook. It’s possible that the notebook had a nice black cover that was textured to resemble leather. Some of the microphones were placed around the drum kit so that when the drummer (the member of the band who hits the drums with wooden sticks) hit the drums with his wooden sticks, the microphones would detect these sounds and send them back to a room where there would be a person twiddling knobs while he or she ate lukewarm instant noodles.

 

Clearly Get Hurt is a groundbreaking, envelope-pushing document of rock ‘n’ roll genius. Further evidence for this is given by the cover, which depicts a heart rotated 180º so that it’s upside down, making it look like a giant red bum that leads up to an infinitesimally small waist. The text reads “THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM GET HURT” in all caps like that. One thing that listening to Get Hurt has taught me: when I hit ctrl-down arrow on my keyboard the sound gets quieter, and if I hit it enough times the sound disappears completely, leading to great happiness.

 

reviewed by Richard Krueger