How can you tell that a bluegrass band is from New Orleans? For starters, it’s a dead giveaway if they cover a Meters song. Or in this case, two Meters songs: the Tanglers’ “Grassy Pi” is actually a medley of “Cissy Strut” and “Look-a-Py-Py,” which becomes a springboard for daredevil solos (on slide guitar, not an instrument you often hear in bluegrass or in the Meters). Once you get over the novelty value it translates perfectly, making it the most unlikely bluegrass cover since the Hotfoot Quartet’s immortal single of Devo’s “Mongoloid.”

For the most part, however, the Tanglers sound a few hundred country miles away from this city or any other. Their debut album largely downplays the hot-licks aspect of bluegrass in favor of a more lyrical approach. Even their instrumentals, “T.S. Lee Breakdown” and “Salt Creek” are more about melody than pure speed; and their multiple-string frontline (banjo, dobro, acoustic guitar, mandolin and fiddle) makes for a varied batch of solos. The vocals (three members sing) have the necessary high-lonesome quality; banjoist Matt Rota’s song “Mountain Life” could pass for a traditional tune. Their other New Orleans classic, “St. James Infirmary” may be faster than most of the versions you’ve heard, but it isn’t any less mournful.