As the ringleader of Fake Problems, Chris Farren strikes more than a few similarities to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, particularly in the way both songwriters mix emo with traces of alt-country. Real Ghosts Caught on Tape seriously downplays the twang of Farren's other albums, though, replacing it with a new emphasis on buoyant pop and the sort of energetic, heartland punk-rock championed by the Gaslight Anthem. This is still the Farren show, but kudos also go to producer Ted Hutt, the same man who recorded Gaslight Anthem's two breakthrough albums. Hutt knows how to couch his clients' punk tendencies in other genres, from Gaslight's Springsteen-styled anthems to Flogging Molly's Celtic workouts, and he does the same to Real Ghosts. With its cowpunk guitars, `60s pop harmonies, and indie rock chord progressions, this is essentially a tour through all of Fake Problems' influences, and a fairly tuneful tour at that.

Blame it on the luck of the Irish. The transplanted Dubliner Dave Kingmet many members of Flogging Molly--which include accordion, fiddle, tin whistle and mandolin players--while bending an elbow at the Los Angeles bar Molly Malone's. Luckily, the band's thirst for whipping a uniquely unclassifiable style of music is just as fierce. Flogging Molly eventually took its name from a long-running residence at Molly Malone's, where the band's live shows flogged the place into worship. Since 1987, King and Co. have crafted a self-produced live disc, their proper 2000 debut Swaggerand just-released Drunken Lullabies(the latter of the two engineered by Steve Albini). Cross breeding traditional Irish influences and heavy-hearted storytelling with brazen punk rock, feel free to call Flogging Molly what you like--"Agro-Celt," "jig-punk," "Celtic core"--they've heard it all before.