This time out, though, they've ditched the Mafioso affiliations that may have been a shrewd marketing ploy in view of The Sopranos' pop culture supremacy, but sometimes blurred the line between Italian pride and racism. Here, Marianino settles that mistaken score with his equal-opportunity-to-pummel block watch group ("We got a crew of 30 niggas that will settle the score") and an almost utopian worldview ("The only way to be in perfect harmony is to smash a brick in the face of your enemies"). While there's no softening of the band's musical approach, the cleaner mix and more streamlined guitar attack here allow some of Marianino's funnier beefs to leap out above the din. Notwithstanding a cover of Social Distortion's "Down on the World," the North Side Kings sound optimistic, upbeat and damned near accessible to the Joe Schmoes who are too scared to stand near a mosh pit. But don't take stay-at-home critics' word for it. The guys in the band'll tell you themselves: "North Side Kings are undefeated, lowlife!"