I would like to hear those 4 songs, and I would also like to hear the rocked up version of 21 Days he talked about.
I saw this thread get bumped earlier and it made me realize how huge of a gap in Fallon quality there is between Brian and Jimmy
I love the original version of 21 Days. I think the song would absolutely work if rocked up or acoustic. Also, if he very happy to support a Fallon EP of songs that didn’t make Local Honey. That’d compile the Local Honey era to 12 songs and would shut me up about album length.
Brian was on Chris Schiflett's Hello Walls last night and Chris asked him the status of Gaslight. Brian said 'we're still technically a band, but we just don't do anything." Then said quite a few things he's said before, they made five good records and wanted to leave it at that and didn't want to make something forced or just to do something to keep milking the cow and everyone just ran out of inspiration and it wasn't fun anymore.
June 15th is the 10 year anniv. of American Slang not that I anticipate anything, but, still wild how fast that went
I remember that album leaking super early, and also that tour was the first time I saw them! Crazy it's been 10 years
same haha - first time i saw them was at Radio City in NYC in sept/oct of 2010 - was a super weird venue to see them in but very cool none the less. only discovered them like 2-3 months before AS came out.
I'm writing something about American Slang for the 10-year, and part of it touches upon that insane leak day when like a dozen different highly anticipated records hit the web within a few hours of each other.
American Slang was my first Gaslight record and tbh I've never loved it, but I'm glad I found more to enjoy in '59 Sound and Handwritten
Who was the coward that said "Sweet Morphine" is the worst song that Brian's ever written (he mentioned this on his IG Live with Stefan Babcock)?? That's one of my favorites from the Get Hurt era!
I don't know but it could be Ian Cohen's Pitchfork review. I've heard Brian bring up that review multiple times; it seems like it really affected him.
Yeah in that recent podcast he mentioned a few reviews read as personal attacks against him, and he basically spent a year in therapy dealing with it. Never mentioned the publications by name but I’m assuming that was one of them
In past interviews Brian has talked about the Pitchfork review in particular being one that messed him up, because it was such a character assassination. Which it was -- Ian Cohen misquoted lyrics to make them seem creepy, pulled out random lines like "I still love rock and roll, I still call somebody baby" as an example of "rockism, sexism, mansplaining, and ageism"....Not saying it's right, but let's just say there's one time in my life where I've read an album review and thought, "This guy deserves to get socked by the person he's writing about." Evidence that Brian Fallon is a better man than I: in the session with the Stefan Babcock he said without any sarcasm that it was awesome "a great writer like Ian Cohen" had given Pup two really positive reviews. So it seems to be water under the bridge but for me, that review is what comes to mind when I see anything Ian Cohen related.
Someone in the NFL thread shared one today from Vice in 2012 that was the biggest pile of garbage I've ever read. Wouldn't be surprised if that one sticks with him too.
His reviews always feel well written to me but usually don't say a lot about the actual music lol. I hate that he's the only way a lot of bands that I like even stand a chance of getting p4k coverage
Super thankful for Handwritten. You could tell they put so much into that record and it really shows. Whether or not they ever make a record again, it'll always be measured against that album for me.
I love Gaslight. Really, I do. All five albums. I don’t have a single negative thing to say. And I enjoy the nostalgia of remembering things. But I will admit that between Elsie and the three solo records, he’s shown me that there’s never a reason to record another GA album. The Brian Fallon who made those four records is my single favorite songwriter on the planet - not one of the, but the writer I love the most. I’m very glad for Gaslight, and I return to them often (I just listened to Handwritten today and it was a delight). But he’s grown, and is growing, and that’s a very good thing.
Cohen came up at a time when snark was the main currency at Pitchfork/kind if in music criticism in general. It appears that's a hard habit to break.