The ’59 Sound Sessions features a band about to burst.

One look at this image from Gaslight Anthem’s ‘59 Sound Sessions Photobook and you can smell the beer. Sweat in the air. Cramped dance floor. The low suspended ceiling adds to the romance. The thrill of seeing a band about to step up fuelled by epic Jersey punk. The photo is part of a 60-page book that comes with 10th anniversary deluxe vinyl packages celebrating the Gaslight Anthem’s The ’59 Sound.

Most reissues stink of a cash grab and to be honest, I have socks older than ten years, but let the boys in the band get paid. The original album’s release wasn’t at the height of record sales and they weren’t packing in arenas.

But man ten years ago, it sure looked like they would.

The Gaslights Anthem’s The ’59 Sound captured a moment in 2008. Even with a title, and songs, steeped in the past, the album spoke to the loss of innocence being experience by an America slipping into its first mortgage induced recession.

The tauntness of the songs hold a fine line of being dangerously close of falling apart. Each track tight with energy ready to burst through the highest suspended ceiling.

Unfortunately, this was the band’s greatest moment. Although I still hold hope for a comeback.  In 2015, the Gaslight Anthem announced a hiatus.

On the tenth anniversary of their finest effort, they have pulled it together for a tour this summer. Along with the tour the band has released The ’59 Sound Sessions. Now I’m not usually a fan of demo tracks, but these songs lend themselves very nicely to being under produced. They sound like they could have been recorded at the gig pictured above.

SideOneDummy Records, who released the original album, have produced some limited editions of the deluxe vinyl packages. But be warned, just before I hit publish, most of the Deluxe Photobook LPs had already sold out.