Blood of the Ram
Ten years together and the Gourds remain exactly who they set out to be: Austin's good-time answer to theBand. Their devotion to country rock and bluegrass, their free-spirited sense of fun and tradition, and their strange and surprising wordplay are still intact judging by these 13 new originals, which thump and swing through off-color boogies, dirt-road daydreams, raunchy sing-alongs, and baptisms in bourbon or, as on the title track, in gospel blood. Founders Kevin Russell and Jimmy Smith have never harmonized with such scratchy spirit, and if their songwriting and arrangements stick to the acoustic, just-shy-of-stoned bop they long ago perfected, the sound and soul still ring true and joyously alive.--Roy Kasten