The Gourds

There’s always at least one song on every Gourds album that’s an earworm you can’t get out of your head (and don’t want to). And on Haymaker! it comes at the very start, with the infectious backwoods bopper “Country Love.” And then the bohemian country-folk innovators follow it with 13 more tracks that have just as much alluring appeal, making their 11th album their finest since their stunning 1997 debut, Dem’s Good Beeble. Though the Austin band followed that debut with a series of superb releases, on recent albums the Gourds had lost some of their consistency and focus. But Haymaker! is a blast back to best-of-show, championship style with a winning collection on which each and every song is likely to spend time at No. 1 on your personal hit parade. It’s hard at first blush to single out notable tracks, though right now this listener is swooning over the wish-Elvis-could-have-covered-it rocker “The Way You Can Get,” the backwoods reel “Country Gal,” the loping charmers “Thurman” and “All The Way to Jericho” and the classic country waltzing gem, “Valentine.” But there’s also the equally pleasing moments of song homage like “Luddite” (Dylan’s “If You Gotta Go, Go Now”) and “Tex-Mex Mile” (“Six Days on the Road”) and the chiming pop-rock closer “Tighter.” All told, Haymaker! is a sweet roundhouse punch that affirms the Gourds are the most creative, original and appealing act in the last decade’s worth of left-of-center country.