With their fourth release, the Gourds claim their ground even more definitively, running accordion-carried melodies up against acoustic guitar, mandolin, and bass rhythms that merge with pelted drums. They keep a keen balance between vocals, with Jimmy Smith"s slurry delivery recalling the twists that Shane MacGowan unleashed with the Pogues so many years ago. But just as Smith runs roughshod over humorously told tales, guitarist Kevin Russell stands up for the merits of twangy, countrified narratives--some recalling the Texas tales he spun so winningly on 1998"s Stadium Blitzer. Adding swerves to the band"s loose, unaffected delivery on Ghosts is fiddler Max Johnston, who"s backed uncategorizables like Freakwater and Wilco. And while the Gourds don"t fit in any derivation of honky-tonk or alt country (consider their ace Snoop Doggy Dogg cover on Gogitchyershinebox), they"re unabashed about performing their tunes with utmost conviction. --Andrew Bartlett