1. The Company I Keep2. Love Like This3. Whiskey Without Women4. Sink Hole5. Wife Beater6. Dead Drunk & Naked7. Nine Bullets8. Guitar Man Upstairs9. Margo & Harold10.Marry Me
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, 16 October 2003 03:11 (twenty years ago) link
― Haikunym (Haikunym), Thursday, 16 October 2003 03:19 (twenty years ago) link
― Little Big Macher (llamasfur), Thursday, 16 October 2003 04:00 (twenty years ago) link
― elle (elle), Thursday, 16 October 2003 14:23 (twenty years ago) link
>Playing the new Drive By Truckers album *Dirty South* now. It sounds even more tired than their last one; they've totally given up on trying to be Skynyrd, which sucks. Not horrible, though. Better than Patterson Hood's solo CD, I guess. So I bet it gets very good reviews.<
I'm now convinced, by the way, that *Dirty South* is their worst album ever, by far. The first song rocks okay, but just about everything else drags drags drags, almost 100 percent ballads, damn near no fucking memorable melodies, no fucking energy, nothing. Track #4 is okay, probably some others here and there, I forget which ones. Sometimes the high singing is kinda pretty, and the thing definitely is better to play at work than in a car, since the record does not move AT ALL. "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" strikes me as pandering bullshit. Track #9, "Cottonseed," is one of the most tedious, interminable songs I've heard all year. If somebody really believes I'm missing something, I wish they would explain what it is. Their three EARLY albums (as in pre Southern Rock Opera) blow this one out of the water, if anybody's curious.
― chuck, Saturday, 19 June 2004 19:17 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 19 June 2004 19:27 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Saturday, 19 June 2004 19:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Sunday, 20 June 2004 03:23 (twenty years ago) link
― TheNewJMod (JMod), Sunday, 20 June 2004 03:32 (twenty years ago) link
Chuck's description doesn't worry me one bit if he really thinks "Cassie's Brother" is better than Decoration Day.
And yes, JMod, I agree - one of the loudest (and best) live shows i've ever seen.
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 20 June 2004 05:32 (twenty years ago) link
Now, I haven't heard the Dirty South yet so I guess I can't sufficiently respond, but what I'd heard live sounded terrific.
Mr. Deeds 100% OTM about "Daddy's Cup" - blew me away live, and honestly unless they TOTALLY changed the demo version on the website and the way they play it live for the record, I'm really surprised Chuck wouldn't like "Carl Perkins" 'cause it's got such a GREAT poppy riff on it, one of the catchiest I've heard all year.
"Where the Devil Don't Stay" was a great rocker live as well, and "Danko/Manuel" was a terrific ballad to these ears. I will admit that Patterson's songs did sound kind of weak in comparison to Cooley and Isbell, and of course again I haven't actually heard the album so I might be totally off base altogether.
― Josh Love (screamapillar), Sunday, 20 June 2004 06:56 (twenty years ago) link
I will say however that I agree with Chuck about missing the humor and playfulness of the first three rekkids, the Truckers definitely do take themselves a little too seriously from time to time nowadays and I'd sure love it if they'd inject a little bit of that Panties in Your Purse/Steve McQueen/Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus) spirit into their newer stuff.
― Josh Love (screamapillar), Sunday, 20 June 2004 07:01 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Monday, 21 June 2004 14:16 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Monday, 21 June 2004 14:28 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Monday, 21 June 2004 14:31 (twenty years ago) link
the key line
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:41 (twenty years ago) link
― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:49 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:53 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 14:54 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Monday, 21 June 2004 15:07 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 15:13 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 15:14 (twenty years ago) link
I'll agree with this. Ah well, can't really argue with Chuck on this until I gets me a copy of Dirty South myself.
And I really like Isbell BTW, I thought his two contributions to Decoration Day were among the best on the album, and at least when I saw it performed live, I thought "Danko/Manuel" was absolutely haunting.
I can see Chuck's point about pandering as far the Dixie Chicks are concerned b/c that song did seem specifically geared to orient themselves in the "don't make 'em like they usedta" camp, but I don't see it with "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" - I mean, that's what the song's about, y'know? It doesn't seem to me to be contrived in the least, certainly it is a "history lesson" and maybe that's a bore for some, but I don't see it as pandering at all.
Funny you mentioned "Long Time Gone" Chuck b/c I referenced that song in my Stylus review of Gretchen Wilson today, how she's big-upping Bocephus while the Chicks prefer Hank Sr.
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2093
― Josh Love (screamapillar), Monday, 21 June 2004 15:50 (twenty years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Monday, 21 June 2004 20:51 (twenty years ago) link
― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 21 June 2004 20:55 (twenty years ago) link
I might not think the history lesson was such a bore if it was, say, "Michael Murphey's Cadillac, actually -- which would be way more clever, too, given Geronimo's and all. (Plus, the Kentucky Headhunters did a better song about Carl Perkins on a way better Southern Rock/country album LAST year. And it was easily one of the lesser songs on *that* album.)
― chuck, Monday, 21 June 2004 21:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Monday, 21 June 2004 22:19 (twenty years ago) link
― Debito (Debito), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 02:19 (twenty years ago) link
I honestly can't remember the last time I was actually excited to meet a band - comes with the territory of being a rock journo I guess
Anyway, I wholeheartedly disagree with chuck upthread - and if you miss the lighthearted stuff, well, there's two songs about Walking Tall, fer chrissakes!! What do you want?? What's more lighthearted than Walking goddamm Tall? :)
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Friday, 10 September 2004 15:41 (twenty years ago) link
They were on Conan last night and they did an Isbell song I think. How old is that kid? His lyrics are just too much. So well written and so fucking defiant. He was all dressed up and looked like an American Idol contestant singing about his sort of fucked up/backwoods life and how he doesn't (or can't, I guess) give a shit. It was pretty perfect.
He knows his southern writers I guess.
― danh (danh), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:03 (twenty years ago) link
god, i love them truckers.
― Peter Watts (peterw), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:14 (twenty years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Peter Watts (peterw), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:19 (twenty years ago) link
(judging from the song samples I heard on Northern State's site he's dead on about that album though)
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:31 (twenty years ago) link
― kephm, Friday, 17 September 2004 15:40 (twenty years ago) link
― danh (danh), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:50 (twenty years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Friday, 17 September 2004 15:51 (twenty years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:00 (twenty years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:01 (twenty years ago) link
you are PSYCHED my friend.
I wish I was seeing them tonight, but I hafta wait until the 9th
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:06 (twenty years ago) link
― danh (danh), Friday, 17 September 2004 16:26 (twenty years ago) link
― stephen morris (stephen morris), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:28 (twenty years ago) link
― Don Allred, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 01:18 (nineteen years ago) link
Southern Rock Opera rocks beautifully, which is hard to find sometimes. Some of Hood's stuff on that is incredible. The thing I like most about it, though, is that it really captures the Skynyrd soul AND mythology .. the whole "heroes that nobody gathered were heroes that die in a fiery crash ... only to be seen as heroes posthumously" narrative. The music even reflects that, and the whole thing turns weirdly meditative. Boom.
With Decoration Day, I was expecting more of said channeling, which made that record shocking when I first heard it. As Matos points out, the weariness drips all through it but so does this call for transcendence -- "Rock and well means well but it can't help telling young boys lies ... don;t call what your wearing an outfit." Isbell's songs sum up the whole record's theme, love your neighbor even if your neighbor is fucked up. It's one of the smartest rock records in ages. Hmmm, y'all.
The intelligence with DBT is scary. So point is, I bet I'll dig the new one when I catch up ...
― Chris O., Wednesday, 22 September 2004 01:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 03:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don A, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 05:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don A, Wednesday, 22 September 2004 06:13 (nineteen years ago) link
Caveat: Do not listen to the Buford Pusser trilogy ever again. They think the answer to Walking Tall is to try and glorify the other side of the coin, when really they should be talking about how BOTH sides are fucked up. Plus "Cottonseed" is indeed terminable and worthless. The whole thing fucks with the real point of this album, which is to express their politics the same way Decoration Day expressed their personal relationships and Southern Rock Opera expressed their sense of identity. And their politics are far too nice guy (liberals who believe in learning from your elders - it's kinda Field Of Dreams, kinda hey hey Neil Young and the Coog) for them to convincingly come off as southern mafiosos. Tracks 8-10 simply do not exist. Kogan does that shit all the time, right?
They're definitely becoming more comfortable with their verbosity, which is making their songwriting less anthemic than it was back in the day. I think they're making up for this with SOUND. Cut out the Pusser trilogy and I think this album actually has more swing than Decoration Day, but again, in a Crazy Horse kinda way. I was scared by Chuck's initial review, but Isbell's songs are much less staid here. I don't think he's the second coming and he is way too alt-country for the flashtastic, but they do shuffle now. Cooley's pretty cornpone too (while your at it never listen to "Daddy's Cup" again either, it's right after the trilogy) but when the band's behind him he's certainly got more sense than the Coog did back on "Justice & Independence '85."
Oh and it took me a while to figure out why I loved "Tornadoes" so much and the answer is that it sounds a hell of a lot like Big Star's "Kanga Roo."
If this album was just tracks 1-7 and 12-14 I think this would be my favorite DBT album. But hey, I have almost every Crazy Horse album and only a cheap Lynyrd comp.
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 26 September 2004 06:36 (nineteen years ago) link
Jason just consistently proves himself to be one of the best dudes - funny, great songwriter, standing up for the right things and completely unafraid to push back against trolls and actively piss off "fans" by telling him he doesn't want their hateful views around.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 14:36 (one year ago) link
From blog notes soon after first release:
...14 songs, 8 damn good, 2 pretty good, 4 too tawky, and the tawk aint that stimulatin'...Patterson's the culprit, as always, but more so here. Ideas, or at least topics, or at least *words,* don't lead the music, or follow it either. And that tight dry little cigarette voice, which can/could be effective, kind of in there between mosquito zingers of Eddie Hinton and 5 0'clock-shadow-tonsils of Steve Earle, but here it's closer to not-so-Mighty Mouse (and a cracker-barrel-retiree-Steve E.). Still and yet and yet and still more than compensated for/effectively contrasted by the sinuous writ x performance of Jason and Cooley. Brad's big bass drum, Shonna's bass guitar (and her voice, back there in the mix, but adding good thin sharp edge thereby, *when* audible: I keep listening for it, never taking for granted), also mucho gracias....Supposedly (according to some sources), DECORATION DAY was a "follow-up" to PIZZA DELIVERANCE, this 'un a f.-u.to SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA. And, before I heard about those alleged relationships, was already thinking how several songs from DS would go good on a really deluxe personal burn of SRO. But *way too many* good'uns to fit that, strictly squinting....(later) I was (somewhat) too hard on Patterson. "Tornadoes" is as eerie as Jason's songs, and it's not like PH hasn't done eerie before.And part of that's his voice, which is *not* shot, as I seemed to imply, without meaning to. It will be shot, or shite, if he keeps squinching it as much as he does on some other tracks. Guess I'm mainly frustrated/spoiled cos of their usual standard, but they're always a bit uneven (as I should've said in the Voice re SRO), so should've been ready to listen around the lesser without shortchanging *some* of the gooder. Frustrated here by the expectation-whettin' way PH presents a triptych of songs re the late hickory-stick totin' Sheriff Buford Pusser, of WALKING TALL mythology. WT was based on BP's *account* of his great deeds, otherwise largely unverified by others, or so I remember reading in the 70s, not too long after film came out. Most impressive aspects: a)Manager of one of the theatres showing it in B'ham taped unique-for-him radio endorsement,"and let me reassure all parents that the 'R' rating is for Violence, not Sex." Also (b) the ending, when Buford has finally been brought low(est).(He started seeming kinda sadie-maso, like Evel Kneivel or latterday Mel G.)Courtesy his old main squeezers the State Line Gang, and congregation runs out of church, to destroy the Gang's main den of iniquity. Somehow seemed prophetic to see them in their Sunday best, ripping that place to shreds, and, though I forgot about it, remembered when Moral Majority first burst through my haze, to hold rally on steps of our nation's Capitol. Well! Patterson, who is younger than me, but writes that he saw the movie back then, and who says he likes to do research, and also make up good stuff, really doesn't follow through. Good spoken intro, good snarly vignette, then Cooley's effective "Cottonseed," then whole subset *ends* with the PH tawky-boring bit of the kind I complained about below.However: one of Cooley's is boring me too (although his have grown on me before, so won't name it yet.) And! PH's "Lookout Mountain" does hold its own with Cooley's and Jason's, in the kill-No-Dozin finale totalizm. But "Lookout" is a pre-DBT, and the latter have recorded it before, haven't they. Still!
― dow, Wednesday, 12 April 2023 20:12 (one year ago) link
what many consider to be our masterpiece,
― dow, Wednesday, 12 April 2023 20:18 (one year ago) link
I would have guessed Southern Rock Opera was the consensus masterpiece
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 20:49 (one year ago) link
I would go for either SRO or Brighter Than Creation's Dark
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 20:51 (one year ago) link
Yeah, I woulda thought SRO, though still wanting to add for inst "Danko and Manuel" for the roots rocker doom theme, and end it all with "Never Gonna Change," which always seemed Lynyrdly as hell, too bad Jason wasn't in the band yet.Let's see what did I say about Brighter:
The Truckers' latest roadkill is uneven as ever, but the best songs are good and numerous enough to put it in my Nash Scene Top Ten…Brighter Than Creation's Dark is not full of sweetness and light, and it is a little too long, like most of their albums, but does seem reinvigorated, after getting past whatever tensions re resulted in the slammed doors and illin' irresolution of A Blessing And A Curse. Also, we got the unexpected emergence of bassist Shonna as songwriter and lead singer on some tracks, a welcome respite from the broody testosterone, and even a few songs, especially the one set in the Grand Canyon, where the drivers-by get out of their truck for a while, and actually seem to enjoy doing so.
― dow, Wednesday, 12 April 2023 21:05 (one year ago) link
"Three Dimes Down" is the most fun DBT song ever, "Bob" is the worst, in summary Cooley's songwriting is a land of contrasts
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 21:07 (one year ago) link
Clearly "Let There Be Rock" is probably the most fun (ingeniously downer subtext aside).
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 April 2023 21:51 (one year ago) link
Not even the most fun song on SRO! (Or in the top half of that album IMO)
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 22:20 (one year ago) link
shut up and get on the plane!
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 12 April 2023 22:26 (one year ago) link
Weird, I think of "Let There Be Rock" as a linchpin of that record, and long one of their surefire live songs. As is "Shut Up," though that one, as it is on the album, feels even more like a victory lap designed for the encore.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 April 2023 22:52 (one year ago) link
i do truly love let there be rock thoughone of the first songs that hooked me when i first saw them -i had never heard of them & saw them open for black crowes in 06, no one in the amphitheater but their diehard fans in the first couple of rows saw the devotion of the fans & was intrigued let there be rock was def THE song that hooked me. reminded me of the way my husband and i & our friends talk about music, ie experiences tied to live gigs, tagging a good show story with a related story about a similar band/showi was like “oh yeah, these are my people”
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 13 April 2023 00:35 (one year ago) link
Listening to the Complete Dirty South and I was almost totally overwhelmed by the flood of memories of all the dozens of times I've seen this band and they were exactly what I needed. Or I guess more specifically the first time I ever heard songs like "The Day John Henry Died," "Where the Devil Don't Stay" or "Puttin' People on the Moon." Or the rest it, really. The most remarkable thing to consider is how different Isbell sounds here when he sings lead, like he's already older than his, what, 22 years? 23? What a band.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 30 June 2023 23:00 (one year ago) link
Oh, and I do like the new remastering/mixing/re-recording/tracklist of "Dirty South," too. It's still too long, but this band (especially this era of the band) does shaggy and shambling almost as well as Crazy Horse.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 30 June 2023 23:55 (one year ago) link
Yeah it’s pretty greatI’ve come around on the re-do of Sands of Iwo Jima … him dropping the falsetto does make the heartfelt lyrics go over a little better. Maybe he just felt it was weird to sing about his grandad in a high pitched voice lol
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 1 July 2023 00:23 (one year ago) link
I saw Hood a couple of times last weekend (Cooley was actually playing the same night across town one of the nights, but I opted for double Hood). Good mix of old and new, a nice refresher that early tracks like "The Company I Keep" and (always) "The Living Bubba" show how good he was out of the gate. Best of all I brought three people with me, my pal who is a fan, his sister (who had never heard of Hood) and my friend's 70-year old dad, who came away converted. It's always great to go to shows with blank-slates, people not hindered by baggage or snobbery. They loved it.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 December 2023 03:55 (nine months ago) link
A case of sterling bigmouth
― calstars, Sunday, 21 January 2024 23:04 (eight months ago) link
i sneaked up them stairs
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 21 January 2024 23:39 (eight months ago) link
and puked in the toilet
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 22 January 2024 01:18 (seven months ago) link
lol
― calstars, Monday, 22 January 2024 01:25 (seven months ago) link
“Don’t call what you’re wearing a sterling bigmouth”
― calstars, Monday, 22 January 2024 01:28 (seven months ago) link
BUT I SURE SAW OZZY OSBOURNE WITH RANDY RHOADS IN 82 RIGHT BEFORE THAT PLANE CRASH
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 22 January 2024 01:57 (seven months ago) link
I like how he's occasionally changed the bands over the years. I've heard him talking about seeing the Clash, and seeing the Replacements, and seeing Springsteen, etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 22 January 2024 02:47 (seven months ago) link
it’s one of the first songs i remember from the first time i ever saw them live back in 2006 i thinkpart of what grabbed me was how this song so perfectly reflected that universal language (well within my friendship circle) the way my friends & i talked to each other, and mr veg and i - the stories that go with those great concerts you saw, or the ones you never get to
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 22 January 2024 03:15 (seven months ago) link
I was drinking with my ex and the “scared shitless of what’s coming next” came on and she
― calstars, Monday, 22 January 2024 03:25 (seven months ago) link
*drivingAnd she cracked up
hood turned 60 today : /
― mookieproof, Monday, 25 March 2024 00:22 (five months ago) link
They are touring Southern Rock Opera this fall.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 25 March 2024 00:23 (five months ago) link
yes! we put in ticket requests for one of the SF Fillmore shows :D
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 25 March 2024 00:25 (five months ago) link
can’t wait
ticket prices seem ... weird.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 25 March 2024 01:20 (five months ago) link
$40 each for standing room at the Fillmore felt kinda normal or at least less upsetting than Pearl Jam
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 25 March 2024 01:29 (five months ago) link
Bought my tix. They were $45 plus $20 of extra BS for House of (fuckin) Blues. Early all ages show, which is odd. Seeing the second night, because Adrian Belew et al. are the night before, and I am the weirdo that is seeing King Crimson and DBT on back to back nights.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 20:33 (five months ago) link
nice!
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 3 April 2024 02:36 (five months ago) link
Southern Rock Opera is the third studio album by Drive-By Truckers...New West Records is proud to present a remixed and remastered deluxe edition LP featuring a resequenced record as well as a third disc with multiple bonus tracks including a song “Mystery Song” that was recorded one night in Birmingham. Lead Singer Patterson Hood explains, “Birmingham” and “Moved” were originally part of Act I on original CD release. This is the first vinyl version to feature “Moved” and we felt that “Birmingham” would be the best other song to move without messing up the story element of Betamax Guillotine. We moved them here to keep the vinyl sides within time of maximum high fidelity. In the process of re-mixing the original tracks for the album. We stumbled upon a mysterious track that was recorded late one night in Birmingham. None of us have any memory whatsoever of recording it. The song itself was never even written down, just made up on the spot while the tape was rolling. We’re calling it “Mystery Song.” It’s actually a keeper.3-LP Deluxe Edition Includes:- Foil stamped slipcase- Original album packaged as 2xLP gatefold- Bonus 3rd LP in separate jacket- 28 page book included with newly released photos & an historic look back at Southern Rock Opera.
In the process of re-mixing the original tracks for the album. We stumbled upon a mysterious track that was recorded late one night in Birmingham. None of us have any memory whatsoever of recording it. The song itself was never even written down, just made up on the spot while the tape was rolling. We’re calling it “Mystery Song.” It’s actually a keeper.
3-LP Deluxe Edition Includes:- Foil stamped slipcase- Original album packaged as 2xLP gatefold- Bonus 3rd LP in separate jacket- 28 page book included with newly released photos & an historic look back at Southern Rock Opera.
― dow, Thursday, 9 May 2024 02:45 (four months ago) link
“If you’re living badly, tell you how to live: dead drunk and naked”
― calstars, Thursday, 9 May 2024 03:13 (four months ago) link
I saw Hood a couple of times last weekend (Cooley was actually playing the same night across town one of the nights, but I opted for double Hood). Good mix of old and new, a nice refresher that early tracks like "The Company I Keep" and (always) "The Living Bubba" show how good he was out of the gate. Best of all I brought three people with me, my pal who is a fan, his sister (who had never heard of Hood) and my friend's 70-year old dad, who came away converted. It's always great to go to shows with blank-slates, people not hindered by baggage or snobbery. They loved it.― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, December 12, 2023
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, December 12, 2023
On Patterson Hood's Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs), the narrator of the first and title song celebrates his victory over Oscar and those who proffered/remonstrated re salvation, "I saved me, and life forgave me." He may be on Death Row or wherever, but he stillinsists, a little too insistently somehow. Ah yes, the well worn Unreliable Narrator device, but it works here. Notes stretch and trail and hold.He can't let it go, can't let cruel Oscar go, and vice versa. It's anOscar-winning performance. Clear enough, but more subtle/subject to interp than expected, and the dramatic stasis that Hood evidently tends (so often) to go for on Truckers albums works here, the sense of somebody rattling his chains and shivering his freezeframe, as we're kept watching the figure's deep focus/fixation.Which is overtly the point of the next track, "Pollyanna", and Hood (withanother surprise move, making seemingly unprecedented use of his voice's high end,by simply chirping) goes from rolling Neil Truckers doom of "Oscar" to Who Sell Out pop scenario over expansive, open-G-sounding Stonesiness, as Pollyanna rolls on(or has rolled on, since all of these songs are aftermath, ho get it Stones/Aftermath), having gathered his mossy heart. "It's a little sticky,she'sa little sticky, I'm a little sticky too, I was just something stuck to hershoe, now I'll have to find something else to stick to." His characters arealways doing or getting themselves ready or not to do the aftermath, and "Pride of The Yankees" in a third stylistic change, starts as a ballad raising a mug to Lou Gehrig, then without a blink to King Kong falling off the building, to passing mention of 9/11, and wishes he could go hide in the mall, and indeed he sounds like he's swaying along in an echoing mall with a hole (and a nice breeze) in it, talking to his little daughter about carrying, clutching "packages so shiny, and you're so tiny," and it's all the tenderness and fuckedness of and in the world, in him as he's somehow unsurprised(it fits with the fuckedness previously experienced, after all or a while) if in a bit of aftershock, afterglow, afterlife, half-life; the next sudden transition being the next song o course."I Understand Now" is shorts-deep in the midst of domestic battlegrounds, old and moldy and comfortable for the moment anyway, as the narrator gets some kind of 40 watt insight, and really the cumulative thing in just thesefirst four songs also has me thinking of foo like "9/11 changed everything"and "All is fair in love and war" and how they're part of the wadding ofchanges and transitions, not that all his situations x moments shown don't have their own internal detail and framing distinctions/lifespans, as characters try to get creative in doing the aftermath on the train or frame or sidewalk crack, or playing in bedhead traffic etc It's all about their and their creator's wise use of familiar and strange elements, reshuffling or ripping or lurching or padding or jangling along.(Those last two just listed: "She's a Little Randy" is the stealthy passage of a cougar and the male person studying her, getting her number sympathetically and then some, as Hood makes good use of the high voice again, not chirping this time but like a little tight, mostly dry smoker's voice, with some rheum around the corners, emph by guitar, as he squints over his cig, and maybe drops it to approach her after that last line (steps out of his frame, as can be tricky/lacking in Hood songs) "Foolish Young Bastard" ruefully/hopefully jangles along with a banjo almost hitting him in the nuts, empty canteen percussion def tapping his butt (a bit envied perhaps, by the somewhat exasperated but unsurprised, family-type person watching him go) then "Heavy and Hanging" and "Walking Around Sense" are expressive but stuck insidea way too familiar Neil Truckers doom (which the title song redeemed and"Range War"("with you") took to maybe non-doom,[as expressed in playing]more about rich shifting currrents of tenderness/fuckedness and war again) Like "Heavy and Hanging" and "Walking Around Sense" heavy up because he thought he needed something between "Foolish Young Bastard" and the young heart who sings about writing youa love song in the "Back of a Bible" (not to be eveel, but cos "there weresome blank pages") A shuffle mainly suggesting white boys of 50s til buildsseamlessly to a solo that obliterates the pro forma of the past two tracks, and incall and response with other instruments. This final passage is brief butdeep, like the best bits of most of the other songs ("Screwtopia" trails theafterglow through basically obvious faster/softer recurrences, and makes it work;makes me think of the traces of "Grandaddy" 's innocently plotted future and "Belvedere" 's twisted past, and the other character's traces, notions, smoke) Didn't think he'd carry a whole album without other writers, but he does, given that it's also got a couple of duds like Truckers albums, and most of the Truckers are here, and that certainly helps, and he's seamlessly joining a set of songs from 1994 to much more recent ones (each set or subset benefitting from proximity to the others, for the most part) with accumulated experience as writer, player etc as well as other aspects of life, and that comes across in the adjustments, inclu disruptive moves, within the plot lines and performances of songs (Oh yeah, this album also features really apt and startling use of piano which he says startled him too)
insists, a little too insistently somehow. Ah yes, the well worn Unreliable Narrator device, but it works here. Notes stretch and trail and hold.
He can't let it go, can't let cruel Oscar go, and vice versa. It's an
Oscar-winning performance. Clear enough, but more subtle/subject to interp than expected, and the dramatic stasis that Hood evidently tends (so often) to go for on Truckers albums works here, the sense of somebody rattling his chains and shivering his freezeframe, as we're kept watching the figure's deep focus/fixation.
Which is overtly the point of the next track, "Pollyanna", and Hood (with
another surprise move, making seemingly unprecedented use of his voice's high end,
by simply chirping) goes from rolling Neil Truckers doom of "Oscar" to Who Sell Out pop scenario over expansive, open-G-sounding Stonesiness, as Pollyanna rolls on(or has rolled on, since all of these songs are aftermath, ho get it Stones/Aftermath), having gathered his mossy heart. "It's a little sticky,she's
a little sticky, I'm a little sticky too, I was just something stuck to her
shoe, now I'll have to find something else to stick to." His characters are
always doing or getting themselves ready or not to do the aftermath, and "Pride of The Yankees" in a third stylistic change, starts as a ballad raising a mug to Lou Gehrig, then without a blink to King Kong falling off the building, to passing mention of 9/11, and wishes he could go hide in the mall, and indeed he sounds like he's swaying along in an echoing mall with a hole (and a nice breeze) in it, talking to his little daughter about carrying, clutching "packages so shiny, and you're so tiny," and it's all the tenderness and fuckedness of and in the world, in him as he's somehow unsurprised(it fits with the fuckedness previously experienced, after all or a while) if in a bit of aftershock, afterglow, afterlife, half-life; the next sudden transition being the next song o course."I Understand Now" is shorts-deep in the midst of domestic battlegrounds, old and moldy and comfortable for the moment anyway, as the narrator gets some kind of 40 watt insight, and really the cumulative thing in just these
first four songs also has me thinking of foo like "9/11 changed everything"
and "All is fair in love and war" and how they're part of the wadding of
changes and transitions, not that all his situations x moments shown don't have their own internal detail and framing distinctions/lifespans, as characters try to get creative in doing the aftermath on the train or frame or sidewalk crack, or playing in bedhead traffic etc It's all about their and their creator's wise use of familiar and strange elements, reshuffling or ripping or lurching or padding or jangling along.(Those last two just listed: "She's a Little Randy" is the stealthy passage of a cougar and the male person studying her, getting her number sympathetically and then some, as Hood makes good use of the high voice again, not chirping this time but like a little tight, mostly dry smoker's voice, with some rheum around the corners, emph by guitar, as he squints over his cig, and maybe drops it to approach her after that last line (steps out of his frame, as can be tricky/lacking in Hood songs) "Foolish Young Bastard" ruefully/hopefully jangles along with a banjo almost hitting him in the nuts, empty canteen percussion def tapping his butt (a bit envied perhaps, by the somewhat exasperated but unsurprised, family-type person watching him go) then "Heavy and Hanging" and "Walking Around Sense" are expressive but stuck inside
a way too familiar Neil Truckers doom (which the title song redeemed and
"Range War"("with you") took to maybe non-doom,[as expressed in playing]more about rich shifting currrents of tenderness/fuckedness and war again) Like "Heavy and Hanging" and "Walking Around Sense" heavy up because he thought he needed something between "Foolish Young Bastard" and the young heart who sings about writing you
a love song in the "Back of a Bible" (not to be eveel, but cos "there were
some blank pages") A shuffle mainly suggesting white boys of 50s til builds
seamlessly to a solo that obliterates the pro forma of the past two tracks, and in
call and response with other instruments. This final passage is brief but
deep, like the best bits of most of the other songs ("Screwtopia" trails the
afterglow through basically obvious faster/softer recurrences, and makes it work;
makes me think of the traces of "Grandaddy" 's innocently plotted future and "Belvedere" 's twisted past, and the other character's traces, notions, smoke) Didn't think he'd carry a whole album without other writers, but he does, given that it's also got a couple of duds like Truckers albums, and most of the Truckers are here, and that certainly helps, and he's seamlessly joining a set of songs from 1994 to much more recent ones (each set or subset benefitting from proximity to the others, for the most part) with accumulated experience as writer, player etc as well as other aspects of life, and that comes across in the adjustments, inclu disruptive moves, within the plot lines and performances of songs (Oh yeah, this album also features really apt and startling use of piano which he says startled him too)
― dow, Sunday, 12 May 2024 19:29 (four months ago) link
Fun anecdotes from a review of last night's show in Houston (https://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-drive-by-truckers-at-the-house-of-blues-18363591)
While introducing “Life in the Factory,” Hood reminisced about the band’s early years playing Houston. Usually “Upstairs at Rudyard’s to very few people.” But he said they got their first positive local press notices in the ‘90s from none other than the Houston Press’s own John Lomax, who died last year. “He was a great writer and he was royalty, but he didn’t act like it. I miss him,” Hood told the audience.He also recalled how Lomax had taken him to eat “the best tacos he ever had,” but for the life of him could not recall the name of Mexican restaurant. “I’ve been thinking about it all day but can’t remember,” he noted. “It was a taco place across from a pizza place!”
He also recalled how Lomax had taken him to eat “the best tacos he ever had,” but for the life of him could not recall the name of Mexican restaurant. “I’ve been thinking about it all day but can’t remember,” he noted. “It was a taco place across from a pizza place!”
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 20 June 2024 16:17 (three months ago) link
Went to the Fillmore SF show and it was fucking great They left out the Malone-penned songs, shifted the running order slightly & mixed in a few newer songs here & there which worked fine but i was kinda lukewarm on personally(my cynical take based on nothing but speculation is Cooley wanted more of his songs includex since SRO is pretty Pat-heavy) But it fucking ruled. Reminded me of seeing them back in the early 00’s - minus of course the super-drunk passing the bottle of Jack lolhttps://www.setlist.fm/setlist/driveby-truckers/2024/the-fillmore-san-francisco-ca-1357818d.html
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 30 June 2024 19:22 (two months ago) link
Think I'd like them to keep those Malone songs, but def bring in some from other albs, like "Never Gonna Change" as finale:it's always sounded like a natural for that, Skynoid as hell.
― dow, Wednesday, 3 July 2024 03:13 (two months ago) link