Throw me somethin’, Cowboy

Louisiana party-time band Cowboy Mouth celebrates its annual Mardi Gras Tour this month with the release of a new five-track Carnival-themed EP containing hard-charging alt-pop versions of classic New Orleans tunes. Palling around with raucous horn-blowers Bonerama! on several cuts, Fred LeBlanc and company turn James “Sugar Boy” Crawford’s Dixie Cups-covered classic “Iko Iko” into a sweaty call-and-response jam. Later, Al Johnson’s “Carnival Time” gets a spiky rockabilly remake that sounds like a deep cut from Harry Nilsson’s Pussycats record and just doesn’t quit. This is the sound Cowboy Mouth does best. It’s music for the body, not the head—kind of like Mardi Gras itself. cowboymouth.com