Like Blood Meridian–era Cormac McCarthy, The White Buffalo’s Jake Smith has a knack for narratives based in the darker mythos of Old West Americana, where the good guys seldom win and the antiheroes often prosper. “Ballad of a Deadman” is a smoldering opener that plays like a cowboy’s funeral march. He immediately picks up the pace with the title track, which is punctuated by adroit, acoustic flatpicking recalling the late Clarence White and barn-burning banjo picking, over which Smith’s shaky voice can barely contain his urgent sentiments. “BB Guns and Dirtbikes” detours into an autobiographical country-rocker; Smith’s lyrics bring listeners into the mindset of a pre-teenaged kid’s delinquent adventures in heartland suburbia. The standout tune “The Witch” fuses rootsy bluegrass instrumentation with haunting theremin tones and sublime horn arrangements.