Old Mad Joy is the major label debut of The Gourds. The Gourds are the national band of Austin. Their junkyard sound crisscrosses the roots-music spectrum with a whacked-out, independent spirit. For their 10th studio album, Old Mad Joy, the fivesome recorded in Woodstock, N.Y., relinquishing production duties to Larry Campbell, an associate of Bob Dylan and Levon Helm. What you get is vintage Gourds with a coat of polish. “It has the best of both worlds in that we are playing with a familiar passion to our live shows, but still all the parts are clear, present and well-placed within the arrangements,” said Kevin Russell, the band’s guitarist and co-singer-songwriter. “I don’t know that we have ever gotten it this perfect.” Review by Peter Chianca of Wicked Local North of Boston: I’ve always considered the label “alt country” to mean modern country music that’s, well… good. (No offense to Toby Keith and all those other country artists who aren’t “alt.”)That said, I’m not sure if it’s fair to label The Gourds anything-country, despite their Texas roots — on Old Mad Joy (Vanguard Records), there’s just as much New Orleans stomp, roots rock and southern boogie to their sound as there is country twang. And here’s the important part: The styles merge perfectly, and they do one just as well as the next. They’re the whole package. On wild shouters like “Drop The Charges,” the band even manages a convincingly down-home punky vibe — it’s like John Mellencamp meets The Clash. Throw