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 Drive-By Truckers (from the album The New Ok available on ATO Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
Their latest full length came as a Friday surprise (released 10-2-20). Forced time off the endless road for Drive-By Truckers front-men Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley found them in writing mode; what was going to be an EP of outtakes from The Unraveling recording sessions grew into their 13th full length, The New OK. As the duo bounced songs across the country to the rest of DBT for recording at their respective homes. With a critical eye and ear aimed at all that’s whack in the USA, the Truckers lay an aggressive groove underneath sharp observation, opinion and critique. Never one to shy away from the issues, Patterson Hood’s title track brings up Black Lives Matter and ‘the once free press’ as he paints the new weird reality with ‘goons with guns coming out to play, a battle for the very soul of the USA, it’s The New OK’. The dose of reality continues on “The Perilous Night”, calling out the ‘dumb white and angry’ while questioning why The White House defended the guilty from Charlottesville and points out the ‘dismantling the greatest generations fight’. It’s a brilliant case of calling it as he sees it. Mike Cooley’s “Sarah’s Flame” is a soft, beautiful Roots R&B interlude, and “Sea Island Lonely” is loaded with slow soulful groove and big horns. “Watching the Orange Clouds” is somber and serious as Patterson Hood details a Portland night of protest featuring ‘boys too stupid to really be proud’, blurring the pronunciation of the words ‘orange clouds’, which could be ‘orange clown’. Bass player Matt Patton handles vocals on the closer, the Ramones original and live show staple “The KKK Took My Baby Away”. Ever the smart persons band, Drive-By Truckers lay out another record where the music is thick, and the lyrics make you think. (by Bryant Liggett) Listen and buy the music of Drive-By Truckers from AMAZON For more information, please visit the Drive-By Truckers website
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