Add together one subdude and one Continental Drifter (that is, Tommy Malone and Ray Ganucheau) and you get this debut EP by the Batture Boys, a duo who, perhaps predictably, combine the jam-band loose rootsiness of the former band with the jangle-pop angst of the latter. It’s a great combination of styles—these two Crescent City rock warhorses are a little older, a little slower, and a little wiser, but they’ve learned to tone it down when they’re getting strident and use a solid groove to set off a fascinating emotional atmosphere. The best of both worlds, really.

These six originals mostly work the country side of Americana, happily set off by Appalachian harmonies and also by Wilco producer Jim Scott. Half of them have water as their theme (uh-oh), but they never come off maudlin or enervated. Vocally and lyrically, Tommy and Ray combine Bruce Springsteen’s workingman’s righteousness and keen eye for emotional detail with just a touch of Elvis Costello cynicism, so their portraits of everyday life feel hyperreal. That goes for “The Mighty Flood,” which is about what you think it is (“Making peace with a broken levee in your backyard”), and “Deep Water Horizon,” which ditto (“Corexit/ Will fix it”). And they’re equally adept at taking very personal pain and translating it for everyone, like the wry addiction saga of “You Had a Problem” and the gentle closing processional “Send the Bones Back Home.” Like the water itself, this debut is deep and surprisingly black—yet still full of life.