Bruce Springsteen is, without question, the hip old-school rocker of the moment. Everybody loves the guy, and with that love comes the unfortunate side effect of hundreds of ham-fisted and half-assed attempts to rip off the guy’s music and persona, or at the very least to toss out the requisite namecheck in an interview. But can you really blame them? After all, Springsteen’s passion for performing and his interminable belief that rock and roll will someday save us all goes beyond admirable, it is downright inspirational. In fact, just thinking about the man’s legacy has me yearning to drop out of school, trade in all of my belongings for a Fender Esquire, and hit the road with my own band of gin-soaked comrades. Who’s in?

Fortunately for The Gaslight Anthem, their music can be described as anything but half-assed, and in many respects, it could be said that the Jersey foursome are well adept at using their whole asses. Indeed, their previous album, 2008’s The ’59 Sound, offered listeners the best Bruce-inspired tunes this side of The Hold Steady, in the process catapulting the band to veritable superstar status. It also doesn’t hurt that The Boss himself joined the group on stage last year to perform their signature tune, “The ’59 Sound,” a move that Gaslight’s Brian Fallon reciprocated when the two performed “No Surrender.” Talk about an impressive résumé.

So to say that American Slang arrives with bloated and unreasonably high expectations that have little possibility of being matched in this world, or any other, is a bit of an understatement. And disappointed I was when I queued up the record’s title track, a meek opener by Gaslight’s lofty standards. Pounding bass drums and a chunky guitar riff, worthy of Joe Strummer, give way to Brian Fallon’s ragged voice as he sings: “Look what you started/I seem to be coming out of my skin/And look what you've forgotten here/The bandages just don't keep me in/And when it was over, I woke up alone/And when it was over, I woke up alone.” Is it about some personal insecurity or a vague sense of feeling helpless? Hell if I know, but what I do know is that it does not hit with anywhere near the same immediacy or urgency as The ’59 Sounds’ “Great Expectations” or Sink Or Swim’s “Boomboxes And Dictionaries.”

But when “Stay Lucky” and “Bring It On” roll around the corner, any fears of The Gaslight Anthem growing old, tired, and lazy quickly evaporate. Both tunes are bruising, straightforward rockers bleeding with the kind of desperate optimism and nostalgia that made “Old White Lincoln” and “Red In The Morning” such fan-favorites. “Bring It On” and its rousing chorus, backed with a guitar riff borrowed directly from Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ, is especially capable of walking the thin line between heartwarming and heartbreaking. The second side of the LP finds Fallon spitting enough syllables on “Orphans” to choke the listener’s ears, and is also home to my favorite moment on the entire album: when all of the instruments, save the drums, drop out during “The Spirit Of Jazz” as Brian bleats the line, “And you’re slow like Motown soul.” Trust me, it sounds great in context. Closer “We Did It When We Were Young” would have been right at home on Springsteen’s The River, its refrain “But I am older now/And we did it when we were young” once again establishing that the past will live forever and the future is always uncertain.

However, all the praise aside, the album does have its limp moments, like the aforementioned “American Slang” and the stiff-as-hell-please-god-just-hit-the-skip-button “Old Haunts.” Then again, I’m not the kind of guy who likes to dwell on the negative side, and American Slang’s highs far outweigh its lows. To say that American Slang does not arrive with the same impact as The ’59 Sound or Sink Or Swim is to overlook a set of songs that are far more than just competent time wasters. Those two records were like a swift punch to the face or a knee to the groin. American Slang is more along the lines of a hug from the guy at the bar who gets a little too chummy when he’s had a few too many. It is not better or worse (alright, a little worse) than what came before, it just has a lighter, softer touch is all. In many ways, this is The Gaslight Anthem’s best way of sheepishly saying, “I love you, man.” I love you too.

Track List:
1. American Slang
2. Stay Lucky
3. Bring It On
4. The Diamond Of 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