The Gaslight Anthem: Get Hurt – chest-beating grunge-rock bluster

With their chest-beating, Springsteen-sized anthems, the Gaslight Anthem have never exactly rivalled Steve Reich in the minimalist-subtlety stakes. Get Hurt, however, takes their trademark sound to previously unimaginable levels of bluster. Stay Vicious staggers along under the weight of its own sludge-paced grunge aesthetic, whereas elsewhere the spectres of Bon Jovi and hair metal loom large; and only 1,000 Years has the kind of ludicrously, air-punchingly huge chorus that this sound needs. The band have talked excitedly about reinventing their tried-and-tested formula for this fifth album, throwing around phrases such as "limitless ambition", "post-punk adventurism" and "experimental energy", while frontman Brian Fallon claimed their mission objective was to "just try everything … nothing was off limits". The results should have at least been interesting, but Get Hurt is nothing but the same old overblown rock sound with every dial turned up several digits past 11. Just call them Messrs Bombastic.