Every once and a while an established band comes into your world and you think, "how have I never heard of these guys before"? Today I had that thought while listening to the excellent new CD by the Drive By Truckers.
That is not to say I haven't been reading about the Drive By Truckers since they released their supposed 2001 double CD masterpiece, "The Southern Rock Opera". That disc topped many year-end lists, but something about the descriptions of the music and their name kept me away. What a shame for me! After cranking their brilliant 2008 release "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" a few times now, I am on a mission to seek out the rest of their material.
Their sounds is roots-based rock along the lines of "Exile on Main Street" Rolling Stones so if twang ain't your thing, you may want to stay away. The band's main appeal to me is that they have three unique singer-songwriters in Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and new member Shonna Tucker, so the tunes all sound varied. Lyrically, each song feels like I am living a snapshot of Southern characters who are dealing with the typical issues of life (death, love, war, religion, crystal meth). But however heavy the lyrical content may get, the songs never sound heavy handed or depressing. These guys can rock your socks off or rock you to sleep depending on the tune and the lyrics are all top notch. If I am not the only one left who hasn't heard them, do yourselves a favor and give the new songs a listen over at their MySpace page. You'll be glad you did.
http://www.myspace.com/drivebytruckers
Also, check out this killer 3 hour show from 2006 archived on the NPR website.
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