Elsie

Most of us know Brian Fallon as the frontman for The Gaslight Anthem, an act who started out in New Jersey basements and slowly built their way up to headlining New York's Radio City Music Hall. Despite the success Fallon has had with his main band he's always loved decidedly less rocking acts such as the Afghan Whigs and Tom Waits. The Horrible Crowes - his new project alongside longtime friend Ian Perkins - is his tip of the hat to the acts who have shaped another side of his musical vision.

The idea for Horrible Crowes started at the end of last year and was formed out of the bond that Fallon and Perkins developed through their mutual love of music. "The two of us had this ritual where we'd go into the back of the bus at the end of the show and just start showing each other records", Fallon explains, adding that PJ Harvey, Afghan Whigs and Joan As Police Woman were some of the acts that they exposed each other to during these sessions. "I've always wanted to experiment with the darker side of soul music and one day we were just like, 'let's write some songs and see what they sound like' and it turned out that it sounded great."

The band headed into the studio earlier this year to put these songs to tape with the help Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Chuck Ragan, Lucero) - and although the band is technically a two-piece, they also enlisted Steve Sidelnyk (drums and percussion), the Parkington Sisters (strings and accordion), Ted Hutt (guitars), Adele Jensen (trumpet) and The Gaslight Anthem's other members to add more texture to the sound of the album.