Ignore the pulpy film-noir cover art for Four on the Floor (Steel Cage): There's nothing shadowy or hidden about the blunt and bold-faced new Jukebox Zeros CD. It's a swift knuckle sandwich with rings on its fingers. Like the hard, X-meets-Morphine squawk of Sugar Skulls—whose lightning-fast eponymous CD shares a record release party tomorrow night with Four -- the Zeros (pictured) aren't looking to fit into a squooshy-soft indie purr or quirky twitch. The Philly quartet likes it balls out, with the punk-blues pedal pressed to the metal. Like its predecessor, Welcome to Rutsville, Four on the Floor is laced with careless Dolls/Thunders ardor carefully packaged by producer/1935 Studios owner Pete Rydberg.

"The four of us are music fans," says singer/guitarist and (Rock 'n' Roll High School Quizzo DJ) Peter Santa Maria. "But more specifically, rock 'n' roll fans. If it's loud, driving and has attitude and punch—something you can sing along to—we dig it." While you can hear that drive on "Fun Suck" and "Flophouse," nothing spells commitment to rawk more than your guitarist having a stroke while recording. Which is what happened to Brian Zarallo. Still, weeks after his recovery, Zarallo was back in the studio finishing overdubs. "There's nothing about capturing those basic rules of rock 'n' roll—big guitars, driving rhythms, catchy hooks—that's easy," says Zarallo.

Floor is "100 mph from start to finish, and I don't mean the tempo so much as the attitude," says Zarallo, and each of Jukebox Zeros says likewise about Sugar Skulls. Two saxes, achy, broken lyrics, bruised boy-girl vocals—real diamond-in-the-rough stuff. "They're one of the few straightforward rock 'n' roll bands left in the city," says JZ bassist Rob Smentek of the former Upstairs at Nick's regulars. Coming from Philly's straightest, forwardest rockers, that's saying something.

Fri., Dec. 16, 9 p.m., $8, with Son of a Gun, Pontiac Grille, 304 South St., 215-925-4053, www.pontiacgrille.com.