SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRIAN FALLON – NOT BAD FOR NEW JERSEY

BRIAN FALLON
NOT BAD FOR NEW JERSEY
LESSER KNOWN RECORDS/NASH YORK RECORDS

Brian Fallon’s in a golden age of songwriting right now – he churned out History Books with his band, The Gaslight Anthem, just two years ago, and now Not Bad For New Jersey arrives as his latest solo effort.

It says something about the way that Fallon has found form again in the last half-decade that this feels so good from the off. He’s in full rock-out mode here, with shades of both Tom Petty and Tommy Keene in the heavy 80s sheen of production on the record. It seems like he and Butch Walker are finding their feet together on this one, and it absolutely feels like an album a ‘happy’ Brian Fallon would make.

There’s a bunch of singalong stompers here, highlighted by “Fading On Me,” which invokes those sometimes-dreaded Springsteen comparisons such is its shambling, smashing rhythm, and “Nobody Likes You In NYC” and his Brandon Flowers collaboration, “Love @ The End Of The World” continue that feeling.

It’d be a really good album if that was where it stopped, but this being Fallon, there’s some beautiful, heartfelt moments too. “Pearls” is a beauty of a song, but the showstopper is “On Good Terms,” which is heartbreakingly beautiful and real, with Lori McKenna adding some love to it as well. It’s a reminder of everything Brian Fallon is capable of being, and the only real clunker is the late stage “Walkin’ Through The Garden.” Whether with his band or standing on his own, Fallon’s cemented himself as one of the best songwriters out there right now, and this is no exception.

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