SOUND BITES

  Although politically motivated material has been a part of Drive-By Truckers' DNA since their inception over 25 years ago, they'd never been as explicitly political as they became in the time surrounding the Trump administration; a pair of albums, 2016's American Band and 2020's The Unraveling respectively, dove headfirst into the ugliness of Trump's America, resulting in sustained critical acclaim but harsh division among their fan base. Many of these fans had gravitated to DBT through their rough and ragged tales of life in the south (especially on their landmark 2001-04 run of Southern Rock Opera , Decoration Day and The Dirty South , the latter two showcasing the brilliant beginnings of Jason Isbell's craft), so it sort of makes sense that there were plenty of Trump supporters in the audience who didn't take too kindly to the increased criticism of so-called Republican Values. For their fourteenth album (serendipity with the new album's title wa...

Drive-By Truckers have long been a band that's never shied away from holding a mirror to America's dark corners. While their star was on the rise, they were releasing album after album chronicling the seedier side of their southern upbringings, calling out demons of both personal and political natures. Their most notable run during this time was the trio of stellar albums they released between 2001 and 2004; Southern Rock Opera , Decoration Day and The Dirty South captured all that was great and terrible about life in the southern states in a way that no other band could, and they developed a well-earned following for their efforts. In the time since that well-received trilogy, DBT slowly expanded their outlook to a national scale and, with the widely hailed American Band in 2016, they were able to finally translate their small town political/personal tales into older, wiser, bigger ruminations that resonated country-wide. That the record was released mere weeks before ...

There have always been political echoes in the songs of Drive-By Truckers, but their eleventh album is particularly tuned to the times; these songs are designed to incite hard conversations as America stares down not just the frightening possibility of a Trump presidency, but a fragmenting current-state America. Gun violence, racism, gender equality and corruption are all touched upon, while closing track Baggage was written in the days after the death of Robin Williams and discusses the dangers of unchecked depression. All of these topics alone won't carry an album, though, and fortunately the music is engaged and energized. It rarely dips in tempo, and even the songs that would be considered ballads have some fire in their bellies. By tackling the issues head on and turning in inspired performances, Drive-By Truckers have pulled off perhaps their most important album yet, not just for them but indeed for their country as well. September 30, 2016 • ATO Highlights Darkened Flag...

Say what you will about Drive-By Truckers, but they're one of the best bands out there when it comes to balancing quality songwriting consistency and maintaining a level of prolificness. Part of this can be attributed to quantity; over the years, DBT has been blessed with a stellar lineup of songwriters. On some albums, they've shared that load among three incredibly talented guys in Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. After parting ways with Isbell after 2006's A Blessing And A Curse , songwriting duties were taken up by bassist Shonna Tucker, who contributed seven tracks over their next three albums. Now, Tucker's been replaced by Matt Patton, who isn't writing any songs for DBT (yet), leaving the bulk of the work to Hood and Cooley. They've clearly been the two best songwriters in the band since Isbell left, so it's somewhat refreshing to have them split the work evenly on English Oceans ; trimming the third songwriter lends more cohesiveness...