Anti-Flag, 'The Bright Lights of America' (RCA)
These Pittsburgh agit-punks have always painted their politics with a massively broad brush, which is why they've been able to move to a major label with less underground static than their old Fat Wreck Chords labelmates Against Me!
Flogging Molly, 'Float' (Sideonedummy)
As much as Flogging Molly's spirited Irish punk brings to mind the Pogues (as well as rowdy pub elders the Dubliners), the Los Angeles septet are as notable for their non- Celtic influences.
Black Tide, 'Light From Above' (Interscope)
With an average age of 17 -- the youngest member is a 15-year-old with Sebastian Bach
Old Time Relijun, 'Catharsis in Crisis' (K)
Old Time Relijun's seventh album has its precedents: producer Calvin Johnson's trademark no-fi pop, the Cramps' sexed-up shockabilly, Captain Beefheart's gnarled jazz and R&B (OTR's name even references a Beefheart tune).
Xasthur, 'Defective Epitaph' (Hydra Head)
California black-metal loner Xasthur, a.k.a. Scott Conner, emerged from relative obscurity with 2006's Subliminal Genocide, releasing an opus whose weird, shoegazey atmospheres impressed hipsters while its intensity earned the United States cred in a scene dominated by Europeans.
Fatal Flying Guilloteens, 'Quantum Fucking' (Frenchkiss)
Though still youthfully rabid at three albums old, these Houston miscreants easily could've sprung from the late-'80s pigfuck scene (Killdozer, Scratch Acid, Big Black). Thankfully, their tunes -- lumbering, treble-scarred shit-fits that are equal parts the Birthday Party and Fun House-era Stooges -- pack greater oomph than nostalgia acts usually manage.

