Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling, Jan 31 2020

Had a chance to listen to this one today. I've been a truckers fan for about 12 years now, and have really enjoyed their material released in that time frame, but must admit American Band didn't grip me the way it did some others and it's my least listened to Truckers album post SRO. I quite enjoyed this on first listen. I appreciate that while the lyrical message is in your face, the band shows some restraint and the music isn't always, allowing at times a subtle backing to allow the message to sink in. Really enjoyed the opener with piano and strings and the closing track is a perfect finale, with a slow burn that stays with you long after the needle lifts.

A good blend of rockers and slower tracks, although like many I feel it's a little too Patterson heavy. One of the Truckers great strengths was for much of their history they had 3 songwriters, recently it has just been Cooley and Hood, but here Cooley only commits a couple tracks, which takes away some of the dynamic I love about Truckers records in that they rarely get to samey. But, perhaps Cooley just didn't have the material, it's interesting to hear their were nine outtakes, I cant imagine none of them were his. Then again, while Cooley's songs are often some of my favourite on the album, I can't say the same here after first listen, so perhaps he really was struggling with some writers block.

I like the way this album sounds. It's got a rawness too it, but still a good separation of instruments. The tone of the album is suitable dark and grimy. I really enjoyed Matt Patton's bass playing on this, he has some real nice grooves and his playing stands out to me more on this record than on previous Truckers records he's been a part of. I'll need to sit with this one a bit more to see if it grows, but a pretty solid release so far, and I'm excited to see how some of this material will come across live!

 

Usually not, but every once in a blue moon I amaze myself.

 

So far I'm enjoying the Armageddon track the most. I really like how the drummer (finally) cuts loose on a Trucker song. It's okay, Brad. Go ahead and go crazy.

 

Patterson mentioned at the rough trade session that they recorded The Unraveling playing very loud in studio so it should be listened to very loud.

 

I did have this cranked this morning a little more than I usually would on a first listen to a record, and will confirm Patterson's caveat emptor

 

Is yours the black or colored vinyl?

 

Initial reactions after two listens :
Very good. Maybe great. More cohesive-sounding than the American Band album and a bit more faithful to the traditional Truckers sound while still incorporating new things into the mix. Some great grooves and a unified-sounding vibe. Hood's most consistent songwriting for a long time. They just keep getting better as they go along. This sets the bar pretty high on terms of what will be the best albums of 2020.

D.D.

 

Colored. Sort of grayish, not quite clear.

 

Played this today and loved it. First great album of 2020.

 

It seems like no others are having problems with their lp being off centered. Maybe I will return it for a replacement.

 

Great review by Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style, who is fast becoming my favorite writer about music.

Across the Great Decline: The American Carnage of the Drive-By Truckers

 

Gets better every listen. Gonna get the vinyl.

 

The 2 that he sings.

 

The interesting thing about that is they only really had 3 great songwriters for 3 of their 12 studio albums. Sure Adam Howell, Rob Malone and Shonna Tucker contributed a few songs, but it's only the Isbell years where they had what I would consider 3 songwriters. And that was a relatively short period in their history.

 

True Isbell was the most talented, but those other people were contributing and singing on about as many songs as Isbell did. On his albums he often contributed about 3 songs, and most noticeably sang on songs as well. This album is so Patterson heavy especially vocally that it really does lose that dynamic that all those other records have where there are at least 3 different vocalists. I think you'd agree that having a record where Patterson is singing on about 80% of the material is an outlier in their catalog?

 

I meant the nine songs that they recorded but didn't make it into the album. At least there should be one Cooley in them!

 

Just curious: Will any of you SHTV DBT fans be at the Heathens Homecoming next week?

 

Yes on Homecoming

 

Was listening to The Unraveling on repeat in the car today. This record brings to my mind the image of someone sifting through the rubble of their house after it's been obliterated ; stunned, shocked and searching for things that remind them of what once was only a short time ago. It's deeply affecting in a way that albums seldom are and that makes it very special.

D.D.

 

How familiar are you with DBT's catalog? Patterson dominates the first 3 albums. He wrote and sings 9 of 11 songs on their debut, 10 of 14 on Pizza Deliverance, and 13 of 20 on Southern Rock Opera. Hood has always been the most prolific writer in the band's history, even on the classic Isbell albums. Patterson wrote and sang 9 of the 15 tracks on Decoration Day, Cooley wrote and sang 4, and Isbell wrote and sang 2. The only albums where Cooley comes close to equal number of songs written as Patterson is English Oceans and American Band. So no, it's not unusual for Patterson to dominate albums as he writes the most songs.

The other interesting thing about DBT is the songwriter always sings their own songs. The only exception is 'Til He's Dead or Rises on English Oceans which Patterson wrote and Cooley sings. In every single other case the writer of the song takes lead vocals. Jason Isbell was a huge part of DBT's history, but he only wrote and recorded 7 songs during his time in the band.

 

Oh, I'm not sure about that. We do know that Matt Patton recorded lead vocals on at least 1 song. Hopefully it shows up on the next album. Cooley hasn't previewed any other songs live recently, not in solo shows and not in Dimmer Twins shows either. It's possible he has a few in the can from the sessions but that's just conjecture. I agree with you, of the 9 or so songs that were recorded that didn't make the album 1 or 2 of them should be Cooley songs.

 

Admittedly I'm not overly familiar with the first 2, but have listened to SRO on up a lot over the years. I see your point, and I always considered Patterson the primary song writer, but it just seemed on many of their 2000's releases that there was a good blend of all three song writers, be they Cooley, Malone, Isbell or Tucker. Patterson was always the driving force, but the albums as a whole still had a good deal of variety. After Tuckers departure, they were left with just Hood and Cooley, but as you pointed out suddenly Cooley stepped up his writing proficiency and so even though it had less variety in the songwriters, Pattersons percentage of songs was still about the same as it had always been.

I think part of the reason this album seems so Patterson dominated is not just the fact that he has 7 songs to Cooley's 2, but that Cooley's songs are fairly short, so he just seems minimally present here as a songwriter, which in the past he has had times where he didn't contribute much more than he did here, but in those instances there was always a third song writer to contribute something, even if it was just a couple other songs to balance things a bit more.

For what it's worth I'm really enjoying this one after a few more listens, and I'm not suggesting subpar Cooley material should have been supplanted into this release in place of other Patterson material just to help create more of a balance. This is an excellent album, it just definitely has a bit of a different feel than many of my other favourite Truckers albums.

 

Should of ended the Record with a Rockin KKK

Matt on Vocals, of course

 

I don't know how well it would have fit (and I think Awaiting Resurrection is the perfect end to the album). But I would absolutely love a studio version of that track. It's a highlight every time they break it out live.

 

I don't really care for this one. I was hoping for more of a return to their classic sound. The writing is a bit trite on some of the tunes as well. Maybe next time.