Good calls, Bullet. I like The Blood Brothers, they do indeed smack of the locust, with a much less gay version of Mindless Self Indulgence (coming from the singer, particularly on "Devner Max") thrown in. I was unable to find anything by Totally Awesome Dudes, Commit Suicide, or Benumb, however. CODC seems more death metal to me than grindcore, reminding me of a cross between Cryptopsy and Exhumed more than anything else, but it's not bad at all. Cephalic Carnage still en queue, along with Painkiller and Brodequin, though.
As for spending money on the genre, i find that i enjoy grindcore as one of my favorites, gimmick or not. Granted, some of it's pretty lame, but i just can't get enough of the stuff. It's loud, it's fast, and it's pissed off. Good times.