Customer Reviews

The Dirty South

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In their heyday, The Clash adopted the motto "The Only Band That Matters". It takes an awful lot of balls to make such a claim, and you had better be able to back it up or be prepared to look pretty foolish. Could you imagine a band like Matchbox 20 making a claim like that with a stright face? Didn't think so. The Drive By Truckers have yet to make such an auspicious claim, but if there is any band out there that could....



Like the Clash, DBT's champion the underdog in the world and offer such a detailed chronicle on the underbelly of life in the Sun Belt(Bible Belt) that it sometimes seems like musical sociology. On top of that they can also hitch their ideas to solid hook filled hard rock.

That being said, though THE DIRTY SOUTH is as strong an album that you will hear this year, it pails alittle when compared to their last two albums, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA and DECORATION DAY. Patterson Hood, the highest profile of three excellent writers in the band, comes up short on a couple tunes (TORNADOES and THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA), though he does come through on THE BUFORD STICK and LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. Jason Isabell contributes two of the best songs on the record (disk?), with THE DAY JOHN HENRY DIED and GODDAMN LONELY LOVE. Mike Cooley then strikes gold with the hardnosed opener WHERE THE DEVIL DON'T STAY and the nod to their predecessors, The Band, in DANKO/MANUAL.

Anyone who feels that rock has passed it's expiration date need only look to THE DIRTY SOUTH to see that it's still alive and kicking and has original and important thing yet to say. This is music that matters.

7/15/2005. Just an update, Iwrote this about a week after purchasing it. I would now give it five stars withour reservation.

Pardon me if I don't keep the adjectives tucked away during this review, but "The Dirty South" deserves some lofty platitudes. The Drive-By Truckers have always embraced---even wallowed---in the traditions, stories, myths, and hallucinations that fuel lore about the South. This rich mélange merits a wide audience, and no doubt will---or should--- swell the numbers of Drive-By Truckers' fans.

Familiar themes of moonshine, cards, John Henry, love, stock car racing, and pride are given fresh treatments. The wonderful Buford Stick presents the flip side of Buford Pusser's legend (Buford is the bad guy here); The Sands of Iwo Jima contrasts the portrayal of reality with the actual reality of WWII; Danko/Manuel offers a bittersweet tribute to the dead members of the Band.

Drive-By Truckers rev up their multiple guitar attack to good effect but the crunching riffs in tracks such as Where the Devil Don't Stay and Daddy's Cup, but they invoke dread and fear through layers of sound in tracks like Tornadoes and Puttin' People on the Moon.

It's a great thing when the lyrics actually mean something, and the depth and allusion here show these folks do their homework. The biting irony of a reference like "I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jimo" or to Elvis like "Making money you can't spend ain't what being dead's about" causes one to stop and think.

Throw in some wonderful artwork, well-crafted packing, and 70-plus minutes of riveting songs and, well, you have to go with 5 stars for this effort.

The Drive By Truckers are highly addictive; people have been hopelessly hooked after just one listening....like I was.

"The Dirty South" is the best CD I have purchased in a number of years. The Truckers have a unique sound and a three-pronged attack of Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell. These three have their unique styles but work together like a well oiled machine. As a companion to "The Dirty South" CD, the DVD "Live at the 40 Watt" is an absolute must.

It is difficult to pinpoint what the Truckers' strongest aspect is. All are great; the lyrics, the music, the vocals, the stage presence, the energy....I could on and on.

There is not a bad track on "The Dirty South". Mike's "Where the Devil Don't Stay", "Carl Perkins' Cadillac", "Cottonseed", and "Daddy's Cup" have a hard country drive and over the top lyrics. Mike has one of the best country-rock voice's in the business.

Patterson's songs "Tornadoes", "Puttin' People on the Moon", "The Sands of Iowa Jima", "Boys from Alabama", "The Buford Stick" and "Look Out Mountain" have a hard political bite and shed light on what it means to be a working-class southerner. Patterson also disspells a lot of myths and stereotypes. He makes us think about why things are the way they are. "Putting People on the Moon" is a good example; why does the government spend such outageous amounts of money on things like the aerospace program when there are people dying because they can't get health insurance. "Look Out Mountain" has a heavy metal drive remensicent of Metallica.

Jason's song "The Day John Henry Died", "Danko/Manuel" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" are outstanding. "Danko/Manuel" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" are on the slower, softer side. But the lyrics still hit hard; Jason's music is softer and stays with you long after you've finished listening.

Three song writers of this caliber in one band is extraordinary.
The lyrics to all the songs are phenomenal; I often find myself
reading the lyrics even when the CD is not playing.

The Truckers are coming to nearby Charlotte, NC on November 17 and you can bet your ass I will be there.

If you have been putting off buying this CD, BUY IT NOW! I hope to hear a lot more from the Truckers in the very near future.

Just to add my two cents on where this ranks among their three masterpieces, this one gets 4.75 stars. Decoration Day got the full five and Southern Rock Opera gets about 4.4. So it's a slight comedown from Decoration Day but not much.

As mentioned in other reviews, the amazing thing about this band is the triple threat, both in terms of songwriting and guitar playing. Patterson Hood is still my favorite songwriter of the three and he does his typical great job. Nothing quite as great as "Sink Hole" or "My Sweet Annette" from DD but "Tornadoes," "Sands of Iwo Jima," "Lookout Mountain" and especially "Putting People on the Moon" are at his typical lofty level. Isbell hits a home run on "Danko/Manuel" and I'd say a triple on "Never Gonna Change."

But the man this time is Cooley. "Where the Devil Don't Stay" is an awesome and menacing song that kind of sums up exactly what southern rock should sound like. "Daddy's Cup" is my pick for the best song on the album. Kind of like Isbell's "Outfit" on DD, the song threatens to be corny but stays on the right side of the line and will continue to choke you up even after you've heard it 25 times. "Cottonseed" is the third Cooley gem. I just caught these guys live and Cooley's persona, not nearly as warm and gregarious as Hood or even Isbell, really fits with the moody menace of his best songs.

For me, what keeps this one from matching Decoration Day are three songs (one by each writer, in fact) that aren't quite filler but don't scream "classic" the way every other song does: "The Day John Henry Died," "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" and "The Buford Stick."

As for whether they are the best Southern Rock band of all time, my answer is no. They are number two behind the Allman Brothers. But I believe that they have left Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker and all the other boogie bands in the dust. None of those bands can boast the gripping songwriting and the balanced attack of DBT and DBT rocks at least as hard as they do.

Are they the best band working today? I couldnt say. Certainly it would be tough to rank them ahead of bands like Wilco and Modest Mouse but really those bands and many like them are introspective and indie-ish in a way that the DBT clearly are not. I know of know better band who's making arena-type rock than DBT. Also, just think of the bands mentioned above. If they were renamed Jeff Tweedy and Isaac Brock tomorrow, would anything really change? On the other hand, DBT is a band in the true sense of the word and would suffer greatly with the loss of any of its songwriters.

Finally, let me add my recommendation to catch them live at any cost. I saw them in NYC on January 1. Later the same day that they rang in the New Year with a 1 am show, they played for 3 hours and 40 minutes, one of the best club shows I have ever seen. The well-chosen covers (Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, People Who Died) fit well with all of this album and some great selections from their back catalog. Don't miss this band.

I don't know where to begin to even describe the power of this album. The opening track, Cooley's "Where the Devil Don't Stay", is a fist-poundin, foot-stompin song that is raw energy when you hear it live. As usual, these songs are eerily reminiscent of so many things that go down here in the South, you'd swear they were singing about your own small town in the middle of the woods. Patterson's voice hits you with emotion and his lyrics often tear at your soul, but there's always the rock. Always the rock. Drive-by Truckers are one the greatest bands out there, and if you've never heard them, give them a chance, you will NOT be sorry.

There is hope that rock'n'roll will prevail over "music" that involves nobody singing or playing a musical instrument. I bought Southern Rock Opera based on the strength of the cover art and title when happening upon it on an aisle endcap during a live in-store appearance by The Stone Coyotes in a Houston record store a few years ago.
It seems that rock's salvation has an appropriately southern accent. The Drive-By Truckers resurrect '70's Southern rock with a lyrical sensibility that is unparalleled in the genre. Too much talent in one group; see them before it's too late. Three singer-songwriter, frontman-caliber musicians, dedicated to their craft, in one group. Given the current style-over-substance emphasis in entertainment today, I fear their quixotic effors to actually make music that matters, instead of sounding loud in your mother's Suburban, will go unheralded.
I've seen them live three times. These guys (and a lady last time) can really play. They are thrilling.

This band gets better with every new release. A combination of awesome, uncompromising rock and slower, mournful tunes, The Dirty South is simply great. Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley still drive the band on standout cuts like Where the Devil Don't Stay, Tornadoes, Carl Perkins' Cadillac, and Lookout Mountain, but Jason Isbell continues to take on a more prominent role with two of the best (and quietest) songs, Danko/Manuel, and Goddamn Lonely Love. As always, the songwriting takes on a Southern flavor that is gritty, humorous, dangerous, and whiskey-soaked. The chops that the band have honed on the road from endless touring - and they're the best live show around, take my word - is rewarded here.

The Dirty South just kicks. As Patterson Hood says, "Turn it up to 10 and rip off the knob."

The Drive-By Truckers have come back with an excellent offering following their last two stellar releases, Southern Rock Opera and Decoration Day. The new ground that this album covers, along with the ever-improving songwriting capabilities of the band shows that they are serious about honing their craft.

Jason Isbell shows the most new progress here, with "Danko/Manuel" and "Goddam Lonely Love" as two of the album's stand-out introspective tracks. Patterson Hood continues to shine, and his firm grasp of southern history and his unique talent for relating it to modern times is as good as ever.

The thing to remember about this and all DBT albums is that the place they sing about is as much a character as any of the people in the songs. Much like Faulkner's mythical Mississippi, Alabama turns into a landscape of heartache, lost loves and lives, and strife in the DBT's oeuvre.

For lovers of history, Crazy Horse-era Neil Young, the South, and wonderful story songs: The Drive-By Truckers is your new band. And this album is the perfect place to start.

I know that average reviews are not viewed as all that "helpful", but, like the previous reviewers from Indianapolis and Scotland, I thought I'd offer one anyway.

I went out and bought The Dirty South after I read the rave reviews on Amazon. From most of the reviews here, you would think that the Drive By Truckers rival the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, and early ZZ Top. According to one reviewer, they are the "saviours of rock." IMO, that's going way too far. The DBT are probably more on par talent-wise with the VRoys (from the late 90s), the Old 97s, and the North Mississippi Allstars - all decent bands, all with a good deal of talent, but ultimately one Duane Allman or Billy Gibbons short (in other words, a long way away) from being the next great Southern rock band.

Still, the Dirty South is a pretty decent album. "Lookout Mountain", "Never Gonna Change" and "Where the Devil Don't Stay" showcase the DBT's driving, dense guitar sound. "The Day John Henry Died" and "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" show that the band can write good music to go along with their strong lyrics if they put their mind to it. And "Danko/Manuel" is a great, slow country song.

For me, the main problem with The Dirty South is when the band uses their music simply as background to their vocals, which is the case on nearly half the songs. Too few hooks or changes in tempo makes for a rather bland and repetitive listening experience after awhile. "Cottonseed" and "Daddy's Cup" are songs that do absolutely nothing for me because of this.

A decent album, yes. A classic? Far from it.

No one explains the misunderstood, misrepresented South as well as the Drive-By Truckers. Time after time, album after album, these fellas deconstruct the myths surrounding Southern life (see Decoration Day and Southern Rock Opera for that theme), and The Dirty South is no exception. Again the 'Truckers rock, with older songs like 'Lookout Mountain,' 'Tornadoes,' and 'The Day John Henry Died' coupled with excellent new material, such as 'Never Gonna Change,' 'Carl Perkins' Cadillac,' 'Goddamn Lonely Love,' and the Alabama/Walking Tall suite. This is a must-have for any fans of the Skynryd mold and for those seeking a precise explanation of the American South. Enjoy.