Like the best of today’s roots-rockers, the Gourds burn with an honesty and simplicity that keeps the music in perspective. No character is a cliché, no story drowns in either irony or sentiment, and no guitar wails or accordion squawks. This Austin, Texas group comes naturally from the ground level; the loveable losers are never too loveable, characters never too quirky.

On Haymaker!, the band’s ninth studio release, a hodgepodge of whores, hitchhikers, metalheads and country gals come to life, but not caricature. It’s all set to a mid-tempo twang deftly flecked with accordions, fiddles and piano. You can hear Kevin Russell crowing in an almost Buck Owens-like strain on “Tex-Mex Mile,” where he observes, “The ho’s got their johns following single file / They ain’t good lookin’ but they got that freaky style,” to an off-handed honky-tonk beat underscored by Russell’s flowing accordion.

The Gourds know their place, literally, as evidenced in song titles such as “Country Love” and “Country Gal,” where star-gazing and fresh breezes take on almost sensually magical proportions. Not that this band needs to shake the ironic trappings they might have felt from their now-decade-old cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice”; that was stripped years ago. No, Haymaker! just delivers another true punch to the gut—and heart.