The Hudson Falcons

Mark Linskey for president? Why not? He would certainly bring the voice of the working class to the political landscape -- and that's something sorely lacking, if you believe the messages contained on the three CDs by Linskey's New Jersey band, the Hudson Falcons. It's likely that Linskey, the songwriter and frontman, could energize the nonvoting 50 percent of America's citizens, if the way he and the band rev up an audience is any gauge. The Falcons are an insistent political street-punk band in the vein of the Dropkick Murphys, Stiff Little Fingers, the Devil Dogs, and the late lamented Cleveland punk group the GC5 (with whom Linskey was close).

Linskey, a union organizer by day, writes eloquently about the plight of blue-collar folk in 21st-century America, with tough lyrics behind music infectious enough to keep the message from getting too didactic. The band's new CD, La Famiglia, is a bit less hardcore than its predecessors, but the trademark angry spirit remains. Had Woody Guthrie, or even Arlo Guthrie, come of age in the heyday of punk, you could imagine a product similar to the Hudson Falcons.