The Drive-by Truckers mean well, but they can’t help telling the truth. So their follow-up to the myth-making (and defying) Southern Rock Opera is somehow even darker than an album that ended with a fiery plane crash.
The centerpiece is the chill-inducing "Outfit," in which a father, obviously only a couple of years older than I am -- perhaps the first generation to understand from the moment that we encountered it that rock is a lifelong thing -- reminds his son that joining a rock ‘n’ roll band can be upward mobility, if you do it right. In this case, "right" is about making it about art, not commerce. It’s also a litany of great advice -- the best being the simple "don’t give it away." He’s not talking about money here, he’s talking about soul, essence, effort, brains, rock ‘n’ roll. Right here’s your school of rock.
This document HTMLized February 20, 2008
I was listening to Mary Lou Lord -- Baby Blue