Many Springsteen fans have yearned for The Boss to recapture the magic of the early albums and the folksy pop-rock and engaging storytelling of the 1970’s Jersey shore music scene. The Gaslight Anthem briefly gave us glimpses into the magic of that era with their guitar-driven sound. Could, Jack Antonoff, another son of New Jersey and self-confessed Springsteen fan be the person to bring his personal spin on the Jersey shore vibe as Bleachers return with their third album Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night?
The album begins with the downbeat and introspective ’91’ penned in collaboration with Zadie Smith. With dreamy vocals punctuated by soaring strings, this signals a departure from the 1980’s synth influenced sound of their first two albums. While Antonoff refers to the Garden State with the line “Just like you, I can’t leave”, the soundscape is more quirky Vampire Weekendesque than New Jersey rock and roll.
That soon changes with ‘Chinatown’ a track that echoes with the ghosts of the New Jersey boardwalks, with its summery Bossanova beat, shimmering guitars and twinkling glockenspiels. With lyrics like “get in my backseat, honeypie // and I’ll wear your sadness like it’s mine”, Antonoff is channelling his inner Springsteen with pride. To complete the vibe, none other than The Boss himself is along for the vocal ride.
By track three, ‘How Dare You Want More’, Bleachers have us in full Jersey Shore party mode. As horns battle guitars for supremacy, piano keys tinkle and drums mark out the beat we are transported into the midst of a full-on retro anthem. You can feel the floorboards of The Stone Pony shake and smell the sea air. Even the imagery of “Preacher, preacher callin’ from the floor” is straight from the Springsteen lyrical catalogue. As Antonoff asks, “Well, how dare you want more?” the audience is thankful this Saturday night has only just begun.
‘Big Life’ is another floor stomping rock and roll number; it starts to show other musical influences permeating beneath the surface of the album. What begins with the guitar sound reminiscent of the E.Street Band, takes a quick left-field turn as Antonoff’s vocals kick in. The falsetto “ oohs” echoing through the track, the jungle-beat of the drums and the Byrnesque vocal tones scream Talking Heads.
The Talking Heads influence is back on the majestic ‘Stop Making This Hurt’ which successfully blends the zaniness of Speaking in Tongues with the horn-driven sound of the Jersey Shore. Like track one we get references to ” Tryna break free of New Jersey” which is an interesting choice given the musical influence across the track. The frontman mentions the title track of the album for the second time (also on ‘Chinatown’) in case, amidst the musical mayhem, we have forgotten what we are listening to.
Antonoff has spent much of the pandemic helping produce some of the best music to emerge during this period through collaborations with Taylor Swift, Lorde and Lana Del Rey. The strength of that music has been in the raw honesty and that is felt on ‘Secret Life’ on which Del Rey duets. In writing and melody, the song is the mirror to ‘Big Life’. The slow steady guitar-led track contrasts with the craziness of the preceding number. Antonoff and Del Rey dream of a place where the gentleness of love can prevail “Where you and I can get bored out of our minds.”
If ‘Secret Life’ signalled a change in the album’s mood, then ‘ Don’t Go Dark’ continues down that path. With co-writing credits assigned to Del Rey, this is a track which is about release, “Well, I stood there and something was missing// I still see you, honey, babe// But it ain’t me that you’ll be kissin’”. Like other songs across Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, this is about escape. Despite the subject matter, the track bounces along with a joyful drum beat and is peppered with the twinkling bells and shimmering guitar. Anger has never sounded so happy.
’45’ is the closest we get to seeing the Antonoff so familiar to us on the music of Swift and Lorde. The track is a powerful, anthemic acoustic number as Antonoff strums his way through the emotional impact of a breakup. Using vinyl singles as a metaphor, the song is a beautifully constructed pop melody—a celebration of the memories of a relationship; “Our 45’s Spinning out of time// But honey, I’m still on your side”.
In many ways, ’45’ would be the fitting end to an album that blends the shimmering musical influences of Antonoff’s roots, with modern indie hooks into a record packed with personal reflections. The closing mumbled folksy acoustic numbers of ‘Strange Behaviour’ and ‘What I’d Do with All This Faith?’ bring very little to this party. However, these tracks remind us that this is a Bleachers album that feels warmer, richer and more authentic than the colder synth-driven predecessors.
For much of Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, Antonoff and his band haven’t served up a bold statement of originality that is fitting of the creative producer. However, this does feel like a journey to the musical heart of the Jersey Shore. What Bleachers have given us is more than just a homage to the singer’s creative influences. To steal a quote from Springsteen himself this is a “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking” joyful return.
Words by Andrew Butcher
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