The Gourds

Take chief songwriter Kevin Russell's voice (which is like Levon Helm with two fists of chaw in his jaw), bassist Jimmy Smith's moaning, off-kilter harmonies, drummer Keith Langford's Tex-Mex polka deconstructions, Max Johnston's hard-shell fiddle breaks and keyboardist Claude Bernard's funhouse accordion, and you have the Gourds — the only post-boomer band to really get the radical roots freedom of the Band. But because they're punks at heart, the members of this Austin gang have little use for myths. They're too busy laughing their asses off at Americana junk, too horny for the local weather woman, and too trashed on coconut sodas, sour mash, eight-foot bong hits and Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" — their version of which remains the greatest alt-country hip-hop cover ever.