The Gaslight Anthem was a New Jersey rock band consisting of lead singer Brian Fallon, guitarist Alex Rosamilia, bassist Alex Levine, and drummer Benny Horowitz. Their sound ranges from heavy punk (Sink or Swim being their best example yet), to Springsteen-esque rock (Springsteen having been a major influence on the band). No matter the era, no matter the album, Gaslight has always captured the vibe of the American Dream-- the working class, the kids trying to make it, the highs and lows-- everything. The band went on an indefinite hiatus August 2015, just a few days after I traveled to New York in one of the best road trips of my life to see them, my favorite band, for the fourth time.

I discovered Gaslight completely by accident, six years ago when I was fourteen and emotional over a boy that was really, really terrible to me. I stumbled upon the song "Bring It On" and cried like a baby over Brian's acoustic performance. I was hooked. I absolutely fell in love with the album American Slang-- so much so that I got the album name tattooed on my arm, coincidentally just like in the title track. Brian Fallon became my first real celebrity crush (I still have his notifications turned on on both Twitter and Instagram, whoops). I bonded with my last boyfriend over their music-- and, ironically, the release of their final album marks the decline and eventual end of that relationship.

Gaslight-- and Brian's other side projects, The Horrible Crowes, Molly and the Zombies, and most recently formed, Brian Fallon and the Crowes -- got me through some of the darkest moments of my life. Sometimes I swear, it's like Brian reads my mind when he writes his lyrics. From the perfect timing of the release of their final album, Get Hurt, to the release of the song Honey Magnolia for his debut solo album at Newport Folk Fest coming out right as I finally made the decision to move on from my ex, I've always been able to feel a connection to the songs this group puts out. And although the band members are all doing their own thing now, and a reunion doesn't look likely, I still point everyone I meet to this band. So naturally, I've compiled this list of 36 songs that you absolutely have to add to your music library. Every one of these songs means something special to me, and I hope others can create the same kinds of memories I've created with these songs in the background.

1. We Came To Dance - Sink or Swim (2007)

And in this unstable arena
Of what's left or become of my America
I'm askin' this dance so come take my hand, come on

2. 1930 - Sink or Swim (2007)

If I recall the last thing you said to me
Before it broke up, before it took you from me
And you said, "I love you more than the stars in the sky
But your name just escapes me tonight."

3. I’da called you Woody, Joe - Sink or Swim (2007)

And I carried these songs like a comfort wherever I'd go
And they was there when my summers was high
And there when she left me alone.

4.We’re Getting a Divorce, You Keep The Diner - Sink or Swim (2007)

Some hearts are gallows, I'm not here for hangin' around
--
It's all right, man
I'm only bleeding, man
Stay hungry, stay free
And do the best you can

5. Señor and the Queen - Señor and the Queen EP (2008)

What do you see with those eyes, pretty darling, in the dead of the night?
Are you saying your prayers or are you glowing like the metal on the edge of the knife?
Baby whose name sounds right on the lips of my queen?
Am I speaking in riddles, or do you feel what I mean?
Are you dying to move, or are you dying to be the one moved?

6. Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis? - Señor and the Queen EP (2008)

Walkin' in my old man shoes, with my scientist heart
I got a fever and a beaker and a shot in the dark
I need a Cadillac ride, I need a soft summer night
Say a prayer for my soul, Señorita

7. Blue Jeans and White Tee Shirts - Señor and the Queen EP (2008)

Still we sing with our heroes, 33 rounds per minute
We're never going home until the sun says we're finished
I'll love you forever if I ever love at all

8. Great Expectations - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

I saw tail lights last night in a dream about my first wife
Everybody leaves and I'd expect as much from you
I saw tail lights last night in a dream about my old life
Everybody leaves, so why, why wouldn't you?

9.Old White Lincoln - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

You and your high-top sneakers and your sailor tattoos
And your old '55 that you drove through the roof
Of the sky up above, these indifferent stars
While you just kept coming apart, you fell straight in my arms.

10. Film Noir - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

And you're sugar and spice and everything nice
You got Monroe hips, your poisoned lips and knives

11. Miles Davis and the Cool - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

So now I've got up my nerve and found me a stone
With a flick of the wrist and a turn of the key, you'll just fall in my arms

12. Casanova, Baby! - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

We could run all night and dance upon the architecture
Come and take my hand, I'll give the very best I can
But boy, I still want to be your man
I'm still these nervous feet and heart of stone
Forget this dead man's town, I'll take you home

13. Meet Me By The River’s Edge - The ‘59 Sound (2008)

No retreat, no regrets

14. American Slang - American Slang (2010)

And they cut me to ribbons and taught me to drive
I got your name tattooed inside of my arm
And I called for my father, but my father had died
While you told me fortunes in American slang

15. Stay Lucky - American Slang (2010)

And you feel it in your bones, steady aching some more
Twenty-five years gone about an hour ago
Mama never told me there'd be days like these
Till it was much too late to recover

16. Bring It On - American Slang (2010)

Stop clicking your red heels and wishing for home
I'm hearing that he tells you he can read your palms
If he's better than my love
If he's better than my love, then go on, take it all

17. Boxer - American Slang (2010)

Try to be a man, tough just like your father
Try to settle down, more like c-calm down
Remember them songs and the reasons we were singing for
But he said he just doesn't miss her
And he, he says it's somewhere in his framework
And I have heard you never really lose it, do you?

18. Old Haunts - American Slang (2010)

Oh Cherry Bomb, you are a mystery
Exploding sparkling quiet nights
My teenage heart pumped all my misery, baby
To fingertips that might ignite

19. The Spirit of Jazz - American Slang (2010)

Was I good to you, the wife of my youth?
Not another soul could love you like my rotten bones do

20. Handwritten - Handwritten (2012)

Here, in the dark, I cherish the moonlight
I'm in love with the way you're in love with the night
And it travels from heart, to limb, to pen
And we waited for sirens that never come
And we only write by the moon, every word handwritten
And with this pen, I thee wed
From my heart to your distress

21. Here Comes My Man - Handwritten (2012)

Maybe time will tell you
Why I got so much hell to sell you
Please, please understand me
Oh you can't just dance around me
Maybe your work will love you
When I'm just not there to hold you
Maybe your pride can be your companion
Oh but I just won't be there to stand for it
Not one more minute will I stand for it

22. Howl - Handwritten (2012)

Like I waited on your call and made my plans to share my name
And I love the country movement in the way your dress would wave
From your hips on down like electric through the
Sound of the cars rushing the rain on the boulevard
In this city by the sea that has always haunted me
And belonged to me somehow
Bless your waters and your doubts

23. Biloxi Parish - Handwritten (2012)

And all of our heroes were failures or ghosts
Burned out in brilliant explosions alone
And all of the blood and the sweat that they gave
Well, we took it all and we threw it away

24. Mae - Handwritten (2012)

In my faded jeans and far away eyes
And salty carnival kiss
That all my former lovers say
Was once magnificent

25. National Anthem - Handwritten (2012)

I never will forget you my American love
And I'll always remember you, wild as they come
And though if I saw you I'd pretend not to know
The place where you were in my heart is now closed
I already live with too many ghosts

26. Blue Dahlia - Handwritten (2012)

Did they take you to the carnival to get locked up on a ride?
Me, I got caught up with the fortune tellers
And the ladies with the sleepy eyes
It took years my baby just to come clean,
Every streetlight a reminder
And all those apologies
And the night was lonely next to me
Even the night was lonely next to me

27. Stay Vicious - Get Hurt (2014)

Now I've had the saints and patience, and I wait on the telephone.
I have pills for this, and tabs for that, and something that used to resemble a soul.
So won't anybody take my hand? And won't anybody ease my ache?
I still love rock and roll, and I still call somebody baby.

28. 1,000 Years - Get Hurt (2014)

Way back when, when we became friends, I was you, you were my defense.
And quiet was the night.
You showed me that bridge, and it brought you home.
You told me about it and I never let it go,
And I guess I might've been doing the same.

29. Stray Paper - Get Hurt (2014)

And underneath the tyranny of august and her sons,
Who sent fire from their fingertips in the holy vow of a teenage kiss.
Now we're much too old for this,
And I don't feel those kinds of things.
So don't you cry for me,
I used to feel everything.

30. Helter Skeleton - Get Hurt (2014)

I guess you're in the place that I used to be baby,
Now it's down to me, so simply down to me.
Oh, but I'm a fool and I fall apart too easily,
But you know me how I love to be with Madame Misery.
Come and visit me, I'm on the 99th floor of apathy.

31. Rollin’ and Tumblin’ - Get Hurt (2014)

When I hit the wall, wrecked from it all
You put flowers down on the cold ground
And cry me a river
And assure me I'm crazy
While you question the answers
And then you lean on my best friends
Until you find better weather
And you take a vacation
I heard you got all my letters
Signed "The Great Depression"
Baby rollin' and tumblin'

32. Selected Poems - Get Hurt (2014)

And all I seemed to find is that everything has chains.
And all this life just feels like a series of dreams.
Selected poems and lovers I can't begin to name.
And all in all I find that nothing stays the same.

33. Break Your Heart - Get Hurt (2014)

See, I spent all of my money on second hand love
But I trusted somebody way and back when.
And I loved her like fire until it drove me insane.

34. Dark Places - Get Hurt (2014)

If I thought it would help, I would drive this car into the sea.
If the fire and the smoke and explosions could speak for me.
If the words that I used to try to explain
How something inside of me started to break.
Ah, but one by one my words just got in the way.

35. Mama’s Boys - Get Hurt (2014)

Cause there's no room in heaven for New York girls and mama's boys.
Just like there ain't no room for me and you.

36. Halloween - Get Hurt (2014)

Well I think I saw you for the flash of a moment
Your broken heart and the body that holds it
I lost your scent in the flash of the party
The big bright lights, baby, constantly haunt me

Like what you see? You can stream their entire discography (minus Sink or Swim) here on Spotify. You can find Sink or Swim in its entirety here.