CD Odyssey Disc 1261: Drive-By Truckers

I’m excited about the Stanley Cup playoffs right now, but apparently there are also NBA playoffs happening. I was reminded of this today when I saw a guy wearing a Chicago Bulls shirt and a Toronto Raptors hat. It was…confusing. I assume the etiquette for basketball is different than hockey.

Disc 1261 is… Brighter Than Creation is Dark

Artist: Drive-By Truckers

Year of Release: 2008

What’s up with the Cover? Another cover by artist Wes Freed. Here we get the troubling notion that the blackness between clouds isn’t the night sky, but rather a demonic goose on the prowl.

Freed loves these demonic geese, and they also feature prominently on the cover the DBT’s 2003 album, “Decoration Day” (reviewed back at Disc 934). On that cover they are walking around the daytime and are a lot smaller. In the five years since they’ve grown to huge size and become nocturnal.

How I Came to Know It: This was just me digging through the DBT’s back catalogue once I had fallen in love with their sound.

How It Stacks Up:  I have six of the Drive-By Truckers’ eleven albums. Of the six, “Brighter Than Creation is Dark” comes in at #1. Since this is my last album in the collection unreviewed to this point, here’s a full recap:

1. Brighter Than Creation is Dark: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
2. Decoration Day: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 934)
3. American Band: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 932)
4. Go Go Boots: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 967)
5. The Dirty South: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1119)
6. English Oceans: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 936)

Ratings: 4 stars

Maybe it’s those demonic geese on the cover, because whenever they make an appearance in the CD Odyssey the Drive-By Truckers deliver their best work. So it is with “Brighter Than Creation is Dark” a record that combines the gritty energy of southern fried rock with the haunting tales of Americana folk.

The first thing I noticed about this album, however, was how damned long it was. 19 songs and 75 minutes is a lot, and most artists who attempt such double album shenanigans end up with a bloated mess. The length of “Brighter…” seems unnecessary and I think I could cut five songs and tighten this thing up to a relatively trim 50 minutes. However, even with all that extra fat included, there is still enough steak and seasoning this is still a quality meal.

 As usual centre-stage is shared by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, both of whom play guitar, sing and share writing duties. Hood’s vocals have a rocker’s high rasp with Cooley sounds more like a gravelly Waylon Jennings type of singer. Having two distinctive sounds on one record help give a longer record the variety it needs to hold your attention. It helps that both men write such great songs with melodies that sometimes burn with intensity and other times come at you slow and mournful, as the song demands.

But what’s that? Is that a woman’s voice I hear? Indeed you do, my friend. Whereas the DBTs previous three records had Jason Isbell playing George Harrison to their Lennon/McCartney act, Isbell had quit the band and embarked on his solo career at this point. He is replaced by Shonna Tucker who had been playing bass with them since 2004 and now adds in some writing and lead vocals. Tucker makes the most of the opportunity, delivering three solid tracks. Tucker’s vocals have a bit of Hood’s rasp and a lot of Cooley’s country and she adds a middle sound between them that gives the record another dimension.

Nobody sings grit like the Drive-By Truckers, and regardless of who is taking the lead vocal the song is liable to feature a rough-edged person on the edge of their luck. On “Lisa’s Birthday” Cooley sings:

“It’s always Lisa’s birthday when I get that call

She’s got no money for a cab, she’s way too drunk to walk”

And on “Daddy Needs a Drink” Hood notes that:

“Daddy needs a drink to deal with all the beauty

To deal with all the madness to keep from blowing up.”

Later Daddy asks Momma to “pour it nice and strong with your cleaning outfit on” and I’m not sure what’s going on there, but it sounds like it’s straddling the centre line of sad and sexy.

The record is filled with big men feeling weak, and strong women feeling vulnerable but mostly all three singer-songwriters find the human spirit burning away at the centre of all that frailty.  Or as Hood sings on “Monument Valley”:

“And when the dust all settles and the story is told

History is made by the side of the road

By the men and women that can persevere

And rage through the storm, no matter how severe.”

It’s a fitting song to end the record which along the way they manage to give a voice to all those people left on the side of the road. If the journey was a little too long getting there, there’s no denying it was worth it. Damn it all, you trucker poets, I guess you can keep that double album after all. You earned it.

Best tracks: Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife, The Righteous Path, Perfect Timing, Daddy Needs a Drink, Self-Destructive Zones, Bob, Lisa’s Birthday, The Purgatory Line, Checkout Time in Vegas, The Monument Valley