In March of 2008, maybe 30 people bothered to show up at the Black Cat’s tiny backroom stage to see this excellent band of storytellers from New Brunswick called the Gaslight Anthem. One of them, I’m happy to report, was a very confused Armando Iannucci, and the experience led to the scene in his movie In The Loop where the State Department staffer takes her bewildered British counterpart to see some grindcore band there.

Last night Gaslight sold out the 930 Club, on the road to riches and diamond rings. For those of us who remember Manville Elks Lodge hardcore shows — goddamn, it’s inspiring. That band deserves to be huge. New album coming next year, apparently.

So you’ll notice that this video isn’t from Gaslight at all, but rather a Social Distortion-y Scandinavian Finnish band called I Walk The Line that I’ve been digging lately. I figure those who like Gaslight will also like these guys, although IWTL is a blunter instrument. I’m actually not the biggest fan of “When I’m Gone,” but it’s all I could find on YouTube. “Where Strangers Meet” off the 2007 album Desolation Street is excellent.

Update: Senior Scandinavia Expert Matthew Yglesias corrects my error on IWTL’s lineage.