Long before there were the '90s genre descriptions of "alt.country" or "y'allternative," there was Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band. A 1997 reissue of two mid-'80s albums on Allen's own Fate label, SMOKIN' THE DUMMY/BLOODLINES is a twisted melange of folk, jazz, country, pop, Tex-Mex polkas, and Allen's own trademark skewed lyrical viewpoint, best exemplified in the Chuck Berry-inspired "Whatever Happened to Jesus and Maybellene?" and the cheerfully heretical "Gimme a Ride to Heaven, Boy!" On the later, a driver picks up a hitchhiker who turns out to be Jesus, who promptly pistol-whips and carjacks the poor guy, leaving him with the hilarious and strangely chilling line "The Lord moves in mysterious ways and tonight, my son, he's gonna use your car." The Panhandle Mystery Band, featuring Allen's longtime compatriots Lloyd Maines and Don Caldwell, whip up a sound that's somewhere between Little Feat and Brave Combo. These albums are essential art-country.