As you can probably tell from virtually every single thing ever written about them, rough-and-tumble rockers the Gaslight Anthem are from New Jersey — and proudly so.

So, of course, after they field the obligatory Bruce Springsteen question — something they've always brought upon themselves, especially with their new album, the just-released American Slang — the follow-up question always seems to be about MTV's hit show "Jersey Shore." Rather to their chagrin ...

"People say it's this 'movement,' but is it really a 'movement'? " drummer Benny Horowitz laughed backstage at the Hard Rock Calling fest in London. "As somebody from Jersey, that sh-- has been there forever. So to me, they've been the reason I've stayed out of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, for about 15 years.

"It's funny," he continued. "Literally, now, entertainment-wise, all people can associate with New Jersey is 'The Sopranos' and 'Jersey Shore.' And as a proud Jersey-ian — as somebody from the Garden State, the beautiful place it is, with our beaches and our 'Jersey Fresh' corn, the Bouncing Souls and all these amazing things — there's actually a website [about reclaiming New Jersey], and I think they're making a movement to push [them] out."

However, what seems to get under Horowitz's proud New Jersey skin more than anything is that some of the castmembers aren't even from New Jersey. To him, it's a matter of authenticity.

"[Some] of them are from, like, Long Island," he laughed. "I don't know ... it's different there now. If they still drove El Caminos, I'd be cool with it."