It's hard to find a reason not to like Guts And Gravel, the debut release from New England trio Dan Daniels And Your No Good Buddies. Whilst offering nothing what could be described as particularly innovative or "challenging", it is nothing if not a fantastically, infectiously good-natured slab of humour, compassion and, best of all, a bunch a damn fine tunes.

The press malarkey draws comparisons to, amongst others, The Barenaked Ladies, but to these ears, ie, the prodigiously knowledgeable ears of The Duke, they sound more akin to the likes of The Mavericks, even if Your No Good Buddies are, thankfully, infinitely preferable to those sons a bitches what yack on about "I wanna dance the night away, is what" and so on.

It's a country music what is pretty far removed from, say, the melancholic stylings of Whiskeytown or early Wilco, but it's no less worthy of praise. Three middle-aged fellas making music for no other reason than the enjoyment stemming from such, and the fact that, having played together since summer 2002, they realised that shit, man, this stuff is kinda good, is the crux of the matter.

The record, available through the band's Web Site, is a melding of commercial country, rockabilly stylings, flamenco flourishes, all with the mood of the most enjoyable party this side of the one on the telly what has five folks acting like the ones from The Dawson Creek or whatever.

Despite the vibe of frenzied revelry, however, there are weighty issues to discuss. The third track, for instance, rests on the theological poser; "What would Jesus drive, if he were alive?" Dan Daniels and Co. don't have any particular answer, but assert that it's probably not "no big SUV".

Outlaw clichés are also given a going over and emerge surprisingly fresh, like in the title track, what tells of a wife grabbing the nearest pistol and blasting her husband out of jail, whilst Pierre, Bobby And Marie tells of a bloodied feud between two folks on account of they both wanna sex with the same lady.

Do It While We Can takes a particularly idiosyncratic stance with regards the ol' hellfire-and-damnation country gospel, noting that since there won't be no "Drinkin'" nor "Dancin" nor "Smokin" nor even "Fornication" when the Lord comes a-calling, best to do as much as possible right now.