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If The Gaslight Anthem had grown up loving U2 and 80s synthpop as much as they loved Bruce Springsteen, the result would sound very much like The Glorious Sons. The Canadian band have a similar knack to the former for eeking out tales from the rough edge, with portraits of wasted lives (Josie) and a character’s decent into prescription drugs, joblessness and mental instability (the incongruously perky Sawed Off Shotgun), given weight by Brett Emmons’ rasping vocal style and chest-clutching lyrics like ‘This love is a bloodbath’. But then the relentless pop drive of My Blood, the polished synths of Come Down and textbook singalong ‘Woah-oh’ chorus of Everything Is Alright set them more on a path towards the Vegas stadium rock style of The Killers than their local spit and sawdust bar. An interesting collision of grit and stardust.

Emma has been writing about music for 25 years, and is a regular contributor to Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and Louder. During that time her words have also appeared in publications including Kerrang!, Melody Maker, Select, The Blues Magazine and many more. She is also a professional pedant and grammar nerd and has worked as a copy editor on everything from film titles through to high-end property magazines. In her spare time, when not at gigs, you’ll find her at her local stables hanging out with a bunch of extremely characterful horses.

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