Still, there is more than a whiff of those rockin' '80s days at punk-rock T-shirt shops, tattoo parlours and dusty stores selling furniture and vintage clothing, and the record stores are the real deal, with New York's best selection of vinyl.

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In high school, punk rock didn't push the boundaries enough for him, so Gillis began to purposely skip CDs and create sound collages.

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It's sober stuff, and yet it doesn't feel that way: The Gaslight Anthem plays with the ripping punk-rock intensity associated with Warped Tour bands.

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