IN REVIEW: Brian Fallon - "Sleepwalkers"

Brian Fallon has never been shy when it comes to tinkering with his sound; as leader of The Gaslight Anthem, he steered his band through a myriad of styles while carefully keeping the core sound grounded to the Americana-spiked punk that got them to the show. Still, his own knack for nostalgic melodies and tales of the heart have kept his music seemingly consistent no matter how far off into tangents they end up.

Enter Sleepwalkers, Fallon's second solo record (and, if you count his discography with Gaslight Anthem and onetime side project Horrible Crowes, eighth record overall); on it, having already done the prerequisite "tone down your sound a bit for your solo record", Fallon dives headfirst into "go ahead and remind 'em of your old band". To wit, these tunes are a little scrappier than those found on Painkillers, and also a little more mature sounding. There is still a heavy dose of nostalgia, to be sure, starting from the top with the snappy Motown vibe if current single If Your Prayers Don't Get to Heaven. It's followed by Forget Me Not, the most Gaslight-sounding track to my ears, with one of those big, earnest choruses that wrap around a Gaslight fan like a nice, warm blanket.

Much of the album alternates between these two places, but it truly wouldn't be a Brian Fallon album if it didn't veer off a bit; Come Wander With Me rides in on a rhythmic, Clash-like theme before unfurling into its beautiful chorus. Meanwhile, Proof of Life brings in a little of the stomp-clap folkiness that has broken through this decade, and the title track goes finds the intersection of E Street and Bourbon Street and staggers through it with all the confidence in the world.

Even with these detours and side steps, the whole affair ends up sounding unmistakably Fallon, which is his blessing and his curse as a singer/songwriter; try as he might to branch out and explore new sounds and styles, he always seems to end up back in his comfort zone. If the goal on previous records, then, has been to move on from the past, perhaps Sleepwalkers is Fallon's acknowledgment that he can never truly do that; after working with Butch Walker on his previous solo record, he enlisted Gaslight producer Ted Hutt for the second, which is as blatant a nod to the past as you can get aside from reforming with your old band... which is exactly what Fallon has done for a string of anniversary shows this year.

While there are no doubt legions of rabid fans who are hoping and pleading for this reunion to result in new music from The Gaslight Anthem, let's not be so hasty in our dismissal of the alternatives. To shove past a record like Sleepwalkers in the quest for a new record by a band that probably isn't going to do a new record does a record like Sleepwalkers a great disservice. I'd take a new Gaslight record too, but I recognize Sleepwalkers as the closest thing we're going to get to that this year; and, considering its variety and its quality, chances are Sleepwalkers is better than anything that would have resulted from these upcoming reunion shows anyway.

February 9, 2018 • Island
Highlights Forget Me Not • Etta James • My Name is the Night (Color Me Black)