Elsie
The Horrible Crowes
Shock
The Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon and his partner in crime Ian Perkins have crafted the darker, mellower offshoot to Fallon’s musical identity: The Horrible Crowes. Channelling Fallon’s love of soul and gospel, the two have blurred the lines between the haunting and eerily soothing to craft a 12-track debut that would earn a nod from Mr. Tom Waits himself. In the same vein as Nick Cave and Greg Dulli, The Horrible Crowes is distanced from the blue-collar punk rock of Gaslight and allows Fallon to bring what he describes as the “darker side of soul music” into the light. His vocal growl may have been reduced to a gruff whisper in “Sugar” and the album’s somber closing number, “I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together”, but “Mary Ann” screeches with the full force of lunacy in this raw and introspective take on life.
Emily Swanson
