That said, Kryptonite just screams for attention: doubling up on hooks, adding a few horn accents, beefing up the scabrous fuzztone. The songs crackle with classic hardcore energy soaked in cherry-sweet melodies and hearty, working-class sentimentality. Sure the riffs are stolen, but Gaunt's gift lies in unleashing the latent anthemic blast in a riff you've heard used half a dozen times by as many bands. Like Rocket from the Crypt and fellow Ohio natives the New Bomb Turks, Gaunt aren't worried about becoming superheroes, and they're even less interested in slaving to cartoonish Rancid-esque punk iconography. But if there's a new rock and roll to be built on the heels of the '90s hardcore revival, it'll probably sound a lot like this.

-- Carly Carioli