The Gaslight Anthem

Ever watch an old episode of Three's Company, focusing only on the laugh track? Once you think about it being there, the prerecorded guffaws are all you can hear. Ever since we envisioned the Gaslight Anthem's 2008 breakthrough, The '59 Sound, as a new Replacements record, all we can hear is the voice of the gruff, soulful pre-Singles Paul Westerberg belting out straight-ahead rock numbers about backseat love and regret, backed by the raucous, drunken Let It Be-era Mats. While the Jersey-based act typically gets put in a Springsteen bucket, due largely to its balls-out energy and earnest, irony-free lyrical sensibility, singer and guitarist Brian Fallon and his white-T-and-tat crew bring a little more pomade and a lot more punk swagger than the Boss and his E Street cohorts. It's potent stuff, and best experienced alongside a live studio audience.