Playlouder - Music is the Network

Drive-By Truckers have often seemed more like a side project, a super group, even a soap opera, than a conventional band. With song writing duties shared between three of their six members of late, losing Jason Isbell could have been a pretty serious setback for the group, but for the fact that in Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood they’re still in possession of two of the greatest living American songwriters. And hell, they’ve had upwards of ten members come and go over the years; Cooley and Hood are the only two original members that remain, ten years down the line.

It’s not always obvious who does what on a ‘Truckers album, but singling out standout tracks ‘Daylight’ and ‘The Day John Henry Died’ from their previous two albums should be enough to convince anyone of Isbell’s calibre. Still, his ex-wife, bassist Shonna Tucker, has stepped in as third songwriter.

That aside, the biggest intrigue around this album would be the return to a country sound not seen (or rather heard) in such depth since ‘98’s ‘Pizza Deliverance’, probably their single greatest album to date. Patterson Hood’s contributions particularly recall that heyday of creativity: ‘Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife’ is a traditionally powerful and moving opener, exploring the murder of musician Bryan Harvey (not that one) and his family. Where others might slip into a mire of misery here, Hood’s perspective is exploratory enough to raise the pertinent question, “Is there vengeance up in heaven?” when the song’s protagonist is stunned and horrified to find his family already waiting for him when he gets there.

‘Daddy Needs a Drink’ and ‘The Man I Shot’ also offer unique and troubling takes on the male psyche, addressing (respectively) functional alcoholism and soldiery. In the latter, a scuzzed-up rock song, the protagonist speaks in short bursts of conversation, seemingly in control, but in the delivery, falling apart: “I was in his homeland, I was there to help him, he didn’t want me there / I didn’t hate him, I still don’t hate him, I was doing my job.”  

It’s not really surprising that, as a relatively inexperienced songwriter, Tucker’s contributions sound a little middle of the road in such company, though it’s good to have a strong female voice added into the mix. And Cooley’s more traditional approach to song writing, while never lapsing in quality, has certainly mellowed since the days of ‘Uncle Frank’ and ‘One of These Days’.

To make a comparison (probably not a new one), Cooley’s the Jay Farrar of the two – originally responsible for as much of the dirty, raw, rock ‘n’ roll of their output as his counterpart, but latterly settling down into a mature, singer/songwriter style. Vocally, Hood’s the Jeff Tweedy of the two, except, if anything, he’s improved with age, and hasn’t become a dreary, insufferable bore. So perhaps the comparison doesn’t work, after all. And Uncle Tupelo, sadly, never made it to their tenth birthday.
 
At nineteen tracks in length, this new LP would be pretty trying in the wrong hands, but Drive-By Truckers do the southern rock thing better than anyone else. The stories and the song arrangements are second to none, and through the shadows and the glaring sun, ‘Brighter Than Creations Dark’ is a journey of Odyssean proportions.