Brian Fallon has already made a bid for his status as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation through his work with The Gaslight Anthem, earning his fair share of Bruce Springsteen comparisons with their punk tinged take on classic rock, mining similar lyrical content and even appearing alongside The Boss onstage more than once. The Horrible Crowes is Fallon’s side project with Gaslight Anthem guitar tech Ian Perkins and has enabled Fallon to experiment a lot more than with The Gaslight Anthem.
The first thing that will strike those familiar with Fallons previous work is the use of space throughout the album. These songs are a lot slower and more sultry, with tight riffs replaced by a concentration on the rhythm section who are flawless throughout. They serve as a solid base to the songs which are further fleshed out from the standard band set-up with the addition of piano and strings. With that said the new single, and standout track Behold The Hurricane with it’s chugging guitars, catchy background vocals and anthemic chorus could of easily been a leftover from the American Slang sessions.
Although the material is for the most part darker, Fallon and Perkins still sing on the same timeless topics such as chasing girls, stories about people, and driving to escape. The album even opens with the lines “start up the car / bury your memories”. Both songwriters prove to be great storytellers and can often wrap you up in their timeless tales about people. Black Betty and The Moon is a wonderful song about placing ones trust in the wrong people and paying the consequences for it.
Vocally Fallon is free to experiment much more than in the past and switches effortlessly between his usual commanding performance, to adopting a rough soulful croon that is most impressively represented on Go Tell Everybody. Perkins has a much more subdued voice that works as a great foil to Fallons and at times resembles the vocals of Aussie legend Tex Perkins in his work with the Dark Horses. Fallon and Perkins different vocal styles work together particularly well on the brilliant Ladykillers with Perkins singing the verse and Fallon powering through the chorus singing “Who must’ve put a spell on baby/ Must’ve kept coming back/ Cause I can smell him on your skin/ I bet I taste him in your blood”
One of the most appealing factors in this album is the willingness to experiment with different music styles, the influence of classic singer and songwriter albums is clearly the strongest influence but they keep the album fresh whether it be, embracing blues and soul in Blood Loss, or the slow reggae beat of I Witnessed A Crime. These experiments do not always work out, like the opening to the Tom Waits influenced Mary Ann which comes off as a bit of a mess with Fallon stretching his vocals a bit to hard over a generic blues rock track. Thankfully these miss-steps are far and few between and when the album finishes with the subdued Jesus Brought Us Together one can’t help but feel it’s over all far too soon.
The first thing that will strike those familiar with Fallons previous work is the use of space throughout the album. These songs are a lot slower and more sultry, with tight riffs replaced by a concentration on the rhythm section who are flawless throughout. They serve as a solid base to the songs which are further fleshed out from the standard band set-up with the addition of piano and strings. With that said the new single, and standout track Behold The Hurricane with it’s chugging guitars, catchy background vocals and anthemic chorus could of easily been a leftover from the American Slang sessions.
Although the material is for the most part darker, Fallon and Perkins still sing on the same timeless topics such as chasing girls, stories about people, and driving to escape. The album even opens with the lines “start up the car / bury your memories”. Both songwriters prove to be great storytellers and can often wrap you up in their timeless tales about people. Black Betty and The Moon is a wonderful song about placing ones trust in the wrong people and paying the consequences for it.
Vocally Fallon is free to experiment much more than in the past and switches effortlessly between his usual commanding performance, to adopting a rough soulful croon that is most impressively represented on Go Tell Everybody. Perkins has a much more subdued voice that works as a great foil to Fallons and at times resembles the vocals of Aussie legend Tex Perkins in his work with the Dark Horses. Fallon and Perkins different vocal styles work together particularly well on the brilliant Ladykillers with Perkins singing the verse and Fallon powering through the chorus singing “Who must’ve put a spell on baby/ Must’ve kept coming back/ Cause I can smell him on your skin/ I bet I taste him in your blood”
One of the most appealing factors in this album is the willingness to experiment with different music styles, the influence of classic singer and songwriter albums is clearly the strongest influence but they keep the album fresh whether it be, embracing blues and soul in Blood Loss, or the slow reggae beat of I Witnessed A Crime. These experiments do not always work out, like the opening to the Tom Waits influenced Mary Ann which comes off as a bit of a mess with Fallon stretching his vocals a bit to hard over a generic blues rock track. Thankfully these miss-steps are far and few between and when the album finishes with the subdued Jesus Brought Us Together one can’t help but feel it’s over all far too soon.
