My Current Band Obsession

The Drive-By Truckers (further as “DBT”) are on my Metacritic list twice for Decoration Day and The Dirty South.  I really first heard them when I downloaded “Used to Be a Cop” as part of a free sample from Spin magazine back in March.  It’s a relatively long track (just over 7 minutes long), but it had a good groove and an interesting storyline.  Intrigued, I found two of their albums at my local library, Go-Go Boots and Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, and gave each a listen.  I also happened to hear “This F**king Job” on Outlaw Country around then, and my obsession kicked in.

What DBT has that other country/rock/country rock outfits don’t is their ambitious songwriting.  They have never feared from writing conceptual albums.  They have never feared from paying tribute.  Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley primarily write the songs with assists from a rotating cast of members, including Rob Malone, Jason Isbell, and Shonna Tucker.  They typically feature a three-guitar attack, and their sound is rock driven.  Their sound borrows a lot from bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band, both rock powerhouse bands known for their country/blues/rock sound and powerful guitar attack.  I wouldn’t characterize the guitar playing of DBT as good as the aforementioned bands, but they’re certainly not bad by any means.

I mentioned DBT does not shy away from concept albums.  No truer is this than on the album Southern Rock Opera, which I’m listening to as I write this.  Southern Rock Opera is part tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd, part historical reference, and all opus.  Some of it is fictional, but over the two acts the band tells the history of life in the South through the eyes of a fictional band.  Southern Rock Opera is an amazing record so far…probably my favorite of theirs.  You can tell through listening to it that Hood, Cooley and Malone put a lot of heart into this record.