In the broadest sense, Gaslight Anthem is simply Jersey sounding, flitting between shades of punk and roots-rock and putting its stamp on a clarion sound that Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Thursday likewise broadcast from the Garden State. On “Handwritten,” its fourth album, Gaslight Anthem is supremely confident. Singer Brian Fallon opens a romantic vein and lets it gush for 40 minutes. The tunes are a jumble of fidelity betrayed and fidelity pledged, with tough-sounding, country-tinged, blues-infused gutter rock providing a spine. Fallon doesn’t couch; on the first song, “45,” he straight-out asks, “Have you seen how my heart bleeds?” But with its fine craftsmanship, the band skirts cliché. “Mulholland Drive” is urgent, cinematic storytelling packed into three minutes of chiming guitars and chanted choruses. For variety, “Keepsake” yanks at twisted family roots, though with no less emotional toll. Fallon sings about screwing up and getting screwed over, but on “Mae,” makes clear what he wants out of his eventual long-term partnership: “We’ll wait for kingdom come with the radio on.” (Out Tuesday)

ESSENTIAL “Mulholland Drive”