Song and lyrics are good. Mix was less polished than I expected but it's quickly becoming a favourite. That bridge though.
Yeah the vocals just aren’t hitting for me on this one…The lead guitar rips in a way that recalls Handwritten but when I play this next to songs from Handwritten I’m really struck by how flat the vocals sound here. Also a few lyrics just kinda irk me — this is nitpick territory but “I wanna smile like a letter from an old friend” strikes me as a really confused simile to the point that I don’t understand it; if he’s saying “I wanna smile like I’m reading a letter from an old friend” then that’s a super clumsy way of putting it (because like…a letter doesn’t smile lol nor do I think he means the letter/old friend is figuratively smiling). Maybe I shouldn’t have listened right after watching Amanda Shires argue with Jason Isbell over a lyric using “to” or “for” for fifteen mins in their documentary lol. Anyway even if I’m a bit underwhelmed it’s a very happy day, the boys are back, not hitting the panic button or anything. Excited for what’s next.
"Wanna" as in "want a" (not "want to") would make it make a little bit more sense, not a ton more, just a little bit lol but it's confusing because "wanna" earlier in the line is clearly "want to" live, "want to" love, etc.
That production's taking some getting used to but otherwise i dig the new single. They better not cancel that CO date like they did on the last tour!
I like it. The bar for gaslight is so high that merely “I like it” does feel a bit disappointing but also rather have it than nothing new so not gonna complain
I get hints of Blue Dahlia / Handwritten in parts - which I think is more the music - and then hints of Neptune / Sleepwalkers in parts - which I think is Brian's vocals. It sounds like what I'd imagine they woulda made as a logical progression after Handwritten if they didn't take the glorious stylistic semi-detour that is Get Hurt and then disband. Brian's singing sounds a lot like his solo stuff, with less of the echoey effects or reverb that they used to do, and the music sounds like a reinvigorated version of where they seemed to be headed after Handwritten. Musically it sounds like they're really having a blast, which is awesome.
The production or mixing or something did throw me off at first, but by the time the song was finishing up the first time I was fully on board.
Just like Anna by the Menzingers, the vocals threw me off on my first listen and then immediately didn’t matter after a few more listens. Absolutely love this song and have prob listened to it like 25 times since yesterday haha
fucking hell this band's discog is expensive on vinyl lol I suppose I want the pretty colour variants so that's my fault
The Gaslight Anthem has shared “Positive Charge,” the first single on their own Rich Mahogany Recordings label, distributed via Thirty Tigers. Produced and mixed by GRAMMY® Award-winner Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Kurt Vile) at his Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, the gloriously optimistic track marks the band’s first new music together in almost a decade. “‘Positive Charge’ began as a message of joy to ourselves and to our audience,” says The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon. “The central theme is about looking at the things you’ve come through and feeling like you want to go ahead with an open heart toward the future, believing that the best years are not behind any of us and the good we have is worth something.” LISTEN TO “POSITIVE CHARGE” The Gaslight Anthem will celebrate “Positive Charge” and their recent return to action with a spring headline tour, highlighted by the band’s first live shows in the Southern US since 2015. Dates begin May 1 at Houston, TX’s House of Blues and then continue through the month. Special guests include Oso Oso and Emily Wolfe on select dates. The band has also just announced a series of Midwest and West Coast shows this September and October, kicking off with a festival appearance at Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville, KY. For full details and ticket information, please see www.thegaslightanthem.com. In addition, The Gaslight Anthem is set for top-billed performances at a number of upcoming festivals, including Atlanta, GA’s Shaky Knees Music Festival (May 6), Washington, PA’s Four Chord Music Fest (August 13), and Louisville, KY’s Bourbon & Beyond (September 15). What’s more, The Gaslight Anthem will join fellow New Jersey natives The Original Misfits as special guests for an epic home-state show at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on July 8, with additional support from Fear. Press release