Stream the new Gaslight Anthem album, “American Slang”

If you’re not familiar with Gaslight Anthem, there is a good chance you will be soon, because this band is set to conquer the world. Their formula — taking a legit punk aesthetic and channelling it through some of the brightest spots of the American rock canon (Springsteen, Petty, the Replacements) — is so obvious it’s surprising nobody’s done it (or done it as well) before, and Warped Tour kids, mp3 blog nerds, and Your Dad all seem to love this band equally. For good reason: they write full, steady hooks and they sing about nostalgia, and cars, and girls, and death, and everything that matters in the world, and they do it in a clear, sincere, empathetic manner. You might think they’re corny at first, and they are, a little bit. That’s because the truest shit is always a little corny.