I’ve been discovering and subsequently listening to a ton of new music. New to me, that is. Among the standouts in my new pile of discs are My Morning Jacket and Drive-By Truckers. DBT is a band I’ve been hearing about and I’ve heard a few of their tunes, but only recently did I give iTunes a ten spot for “A Blessing And A Curse,” the band’s latest. It’s an album that makes one want to listen again and learn more about the distinct Southern voices coming through.
Here’s a bit from the bio section on DBT’s website:
You hear about “the greatest band in the world” being dropped on many a group, desperately given this medal in hopes they’ll use it to “save rock-n-roll,” whatever that means. But no band that has had to suffer under this artificial responsibility has succeeded so triumphantly as Drive-By Truckers. Equal parts back porch historians, runaway drunken firecrackers, and poets of the hard life and how to live it; they came on the scene and set the bar higher for what you can do with the music we love. The characters in their songs have left gals at the altar, wrecked their cars, woken up on the cold floor and even killed themselves a number of times over the years, breathing some new intelligent life, not just into rock music but, into rockers everywhere. Many a critic, including myself, have placed upon them the treacherous mantle of being The Best Rock Band In The World, and they wear this title like the blessing and the curse it is–I love this band. – Alex V. Cook
Clearly, Drive-By Truckers is a band that inspires passion. That’s what great bands do.
As for My Morning Jacket, I’ve been put into a kind of spell by their album “Z”. It’s haunting in a friendly way.