Chris DeLine

Last April, the Gaslight Anthem opened for Tim Barry and the Bouncing Souls at the Triple Rock Social Club. Now, less than a year later, the band find themselves returning to Minneapolis as headliners. Sounding as though it’s the end result of years of cranking Springsteen while speeding down the New Jersey Turnpike to see punk shows across the bay, the group’s brand of no-frills rock is on the cusp of becoming something huge. Last year’s The 59 Sound was voted the best album of 2008 by eMusic’s editors, and the record received widespread critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, landing it on countless critics’ year-end lists. Already in 2009 the Gaslight Anthem have rumbled onto late night television with a performance on The Late Show with David Letterman, and will appear on the cover of a special “Innovators Issue” of Alternative Press in May. Next time they return to town, a venue the size of the Varsity might not be able to hold them. Joining Gaslight Anthem will be the Heartless Bastards and Good Old War. 18+.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]