Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse

Every band has its influences, and these influences have become a critical litmus test for determining a band’s value. Like marketing, the first musician to a genre becomes its standard. As much as we might like to pretend that Ryan Adams or Conor Oberst are the new Bob Dylan, we remain comforted by the idea that Dylan will always reign as king.

There are a few bands working today that will set a standard: there will be a “New Wilco!” or Radiohead! or Spoon! or U2!…bands that raise the flag of innovation, bands that will be copied over and over to varying success.

Of course, most of the original standard bearers of rock were born in the 60’s and 70’s: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Pink Floyd to name a few. Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of these groups, a band that captured the essence of The South, creating a bombastic brand of loud rock and roll that was uniquely their own. Skynyrd was, like The E Street Band, a regional creation that went national. The public loves regional music because it brings us to a time and place that is alien and understandable at the same time.

And here is where the Drive-By Truckers step in. The Truckers follow faithfully on the coattails of their Southern predecessors with a three-guitar onslaught and an uncanny understanding of how melody fits within that wall of sound. With these tools in hand, the Truckers blow right by their effigies, they write their songs with a Skoal-stained finger on the pulse on what The South is now, and with lyrics that far surpass “Free Bird.”

This brings us to The Truckers latest album. Their previous albums, from Southern Rock Opera, through Decoration Day and on to The Dirty South, were loaded to the brim with Southern imagery: single mothers waiting for their imprisoned husbands, George Wallace, Paul “Bear” Bryant, NASCAR…even Skynyrd’s lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant. Their albums have been epic landscapes of the “duality of the Southern Thang,” as Patterson Hood puts it on “The Three Great Alabama Icons.”

Honestly, The Truckers capture the ethos of life beyond Alabama, often singing songs that could be heard throughout middle America. Where country music sings of the heartbreak and Dairy Queens that litter the Red spaces between our Blue cities, The Truckers show the darker side.

A Blessing and a Curse, their latest release, is less epic than their three previous albums. The focus is tighter and more personal. The Truckers divide their vocals between Gruff Honesty (Patterson Hood), Sawn-off Cool (Mike Cooley) and the youngest member of the band, the silkier-voiced and guitar wizard, Jason Isbell. The three-vocal trade-off, combined with the mix of Black Crowe riffs and balladry, keep the album interesting, but the regional landscape that has made The Truckers great is missing. These songs don’t seem big when laid next to the broad scope of The Dirty South. On “Aftermath USA,” at least, they bring that old range back: the song starts with a seemingly humorous party scene before the view turns wicked with the sight of “crystal meth in the bathtub” and “blood spattered in the sink.”

A Blessing and a Curse isn’t disappointing, but it’s not as good as their previous albums. There are some good songs, of course: “Feb. 14” and the soaring “Daylight” are high points. “Gravity’s Gone” is a pleasant rocker with its chorus of “I’ve been falling so long/It’s like gravity is gone/And I’m just floatin’.” “A World of Hurt” is a snapshot of marriage that nearly seems hopeless until Patterson offers a glimmer of…well…hope. The album’s greatest achievement is that The Truckers are staying true to their roots and sound. Some bands thrive by reinventing themselves, but Drive-By Truckers have realized that they do one thing really well: make rock and roll music that kicks ass.

A Blessing and a Curse, Drive-By Truckers: B-.

Posted on May 1, 2006 12:00 AM