4.5/5

As vocalist Brian Fallon lets slip the words “I get my last rites read by thieves” on Elsie’s opening track, it’s quite apparent this isn’t your typical alternative rock album. The debut record from the Gaslight Anthem frontman, here working with guitar tech Ian Perkins, takes you on a journey of loss, defeat, and dwindling hope through backseats, smoky bars, and slightly less-than-empty hallways over the course of its comfortable 45 minutes.

Packed to the brim with all of the classic influences that were promised in the months leading up to its release – Tom Waits and the National, anyone? – Elsie careens through all 12 songs with bridled reckless abandon. Using a variety of instruments – from organs to strings – to compliment the impeccable guitar skills of both Fallon and Perkins, the band shifts seamlessly from down-tempo crooners like the beautifully crafted “Cherry Blossoms” to driving, upbeat heartbreak anthems such as “Go Tell Everybody” and “Mary Ann.”

It’s quite apparent to anyone familiar with Fallon’s previous efforts with The Gaslight Anthem that while all of the usual elements of New Jersey’s finest are still here, the Horrible Crowes is an entirely different monster to showcase his many talents. Gone are the leather jackets and punk sensibilities in lieu of black suits and hard drinks.

Lyrically, Elsie is almost flawless as the audience is drawn in through the almost eerie strength of the sound that evokes vivid images and comforting understanding such as on “Blood Loss” as Fallon cries out, “My footsteps ain’t hung in your hallways enough for you to be truly haunted.” His vocal talents do nothing but impress as he moves from barely audible whispers to gravely, impassioned shouts, directing each line to the darkest places of your being in attempts of warming your soul.

Elsie isn’t so much a collection of tracks nicely wrapped up with a ribbon of vintage nostalgia, but a comprehensive tale of the world crashing down around you, as your heart is being pulled in every direction, and the glimmer of light that assures you it will be okay. It is a true break up album, the likes of which haven’t been seen with this kind of visceral ambition in years.

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