It’s always a happy time for me when the Drive By Truckers release new material. Their new album, The Big To-Do, comes out on March 16 and is their first on ATO Records. Luckily, they’ve shared “Birthday Boy” (a Mike Cooley song) via their website, and “This Fucking Job” (a Patterson Hood song) via Stereogum. Both tunes have the lyrical blood and guts, plus the driving instrumental force, that have moved me for the better part of a decade. As I wrote last year (I guess I can’t get away from the word “gut” when writing about the DBTs):
“Well, speaking of “soul shaking amazing” shows – August 1, 2002, the Mercury Lounge, NYC. My first DBTs show. Sure we get a little jaded here in New York every now and then, but we’re also fortunate enough to have a lot of opportunities to shake our head at Mr. Jaded, and even throw ‘em an elbow to the gut once in a while. That’s how August 1, 2002 felt. The Southern Rock Opera album was in heavy rotation leading up to the gig, but we didn’t know what we were in for, at all. After one song we looked at each other, collectively exhaled, downed our beers and raced to the bar for a couple quick shots of whiskey. Figuring we needed re-balance for the rest of the show. A monumental night in my long history of losing myself to live music.”
Here are the two new ones:
