Just dug up another gem that I inadvertently got from ML: Constantines. If Hot Water Music - one of my favorite bands ever - had never signed with Epitaph and gone the studio punk route (a truly tragic turn of events; and don't even get me started on The Draft) and instead stayed down South, mellowed out, graduated from the hardcore scene, experimented with some different instruments, wrote a couple love songs, and maybe went on a fun tour with The Hold Steady... they wouldn't be Constantines, but they would make a hell of a double bill. It's my kind of whiskey-drinkin' music - emotional, determined post-hardcore with enough change of pace and creative flourishes - inventive drumming, lite keys, the occasional horns - to feed the adrenaline and give you goosebumps at the same time. The indisputable highlight, though, is Bryan Webb's raspy, soulful, tough and tender voice.

Apparently these Canadians have been around for a decade and put out their first 3, consistently solid records on Sub Pop. And apparently I've been under a rock the entire time.