“Keep Country Weird” is the unofficial motto of this quintet, which functions as another one of those spontaneous NOLA “supergroups” trying something for fun (there are members here from Courtyard Kings, RiverLeft, and Bacon, if you’re interested). They don’t get exactly weird on the majority of their debut, though they don’t stand on convention either, tossing occasional minor-key moves in at emotionally appropriate spots (Django Reinhardt’s “Minor Swing” is not coincidentally a live staple) and blending fiddle, banjo, accordion, and sweetly pretty backup vocals into a synthesis that’s airbrushed yet still plenty rootsy.

You can always tell how genuine a Crescent City band is by its Katrina Moment, and the title track comes off at first like a typical survivor’s anthem—that is, until it suddenly erupts into a hoedown when the water washes in. Again, not so much weird as slightly unconventional: in fact, the only time the County sticks to the mission statement is on Track 5, “Matthew 8:28,” which, as a spaghetti western epic, sort of splits the difference between Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia” and Ween’s “Buenos Tardes Amigo.” Still, at a time when even Nashville has stopped pretending it even has roots, it’s good to hear anyone taking chances, And it’s not as if sticking to the playbook is gonna do them any favors—their anti-BP, pro-levee anthem “We Gonna Rise” is really just “Battle Hymn of the Republic” filtered through “I Saw the Light.” Which kind of mutation would you rather hear? Even with fiddles?