Drive By Truckers — The Dirty South

The dusty back roads of rural Tennessee could be a very dangerous place, in the mid 60's they were dry for another reason, some counties in the southern states were called dry because alcohol was not permitted and bootlegging and shine runnin' became quite a profitable business for those on the wrong side of the law. So begins The Dirty South by the Drive By Truckers.

Well the story (and movies and television series) goes that Buford Pusser was one bad dude. Over the course of his relatively short life he was shot 8 times and stabbed numerous times, had his home burned to the ground and his wife murdered while trying to keep law and order in McNairy county Tennessee. Pusser was a maverick who cleared the streets of moonshiners and shut down the whorehouses at the point of a .357 and a gigantic stick, many times without the aide of that legal technicality called an arrest warrant. Depending on which side of the red clay street you lived on Pusser was loved or loathed and his life was a tumultous as the tornadoes that turned trailor parks into piles of scrap aluminum each and every summer. When truth turns to legend, the stories are all told and the movies all been made, people seem to forget that there are two sides to every story like the life and death of Buford Pusser. Its a good thing these boys and girl are around to tell the other side of this story as they do on a few songs on their new album The Dirty South and trust me the south never forgets and the south always gets even.

Along with Pusser, the truckers write about the harsh realities of life in the south.....the hopeless feelings associated with technology making the hard working blue collar man obsolete, the terrible things a desperate man will do to keep his family fed, the tragedies associated with the the Sands of Iwo Jima or the Tornadoes that ravage the south, or the lying politicians who promised them jobs, or the hypocrisy of the deeply rooted southern baptist church. The southern man tries his best to keep the truly important things in life in clear perspective. Although this album paints a very dark hue at times there are a few rays of sunshine to balance things out here like Carl perkins Cadillac and the incredibly powerful Daddy's Cup that make this one genuinely impressive listen.

Lyrically this album is a masterpiece and musically it's damn close. The three headed guitar/lead vocal monster that is ringleader Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell are never over the top, but always spot on whether its subtle acoustic passages, blistering leads or interesting textures to accentuate the lyrics these guys always play what fits and never more. The rhythm section is rock solid with newcomer Shonna Tucker on bass and Brad Morgan as usual behind the drum kit and as a unit this quintet creates some seriously kick ass southern rock that at times gets quite heavy. Surprisingly the music almost takes a backseat to the lyrics and vocal deliveries of the trio of vocalists, each person perfectly cast for the songs they sing, which adds another layer of depth to an already incredible piece of work. This album is not overtly complex, full of virtuosos strutting their stuff, or trying to confuse you with odd time signatures and amaze you incredible synth work, these four gentlemen and one fine lady are just delivering the goods like the title of their 2000 live album Alabama Ass Whuppin' states...and at this point in time I can honestly say The Dirty South will be on my top 10 of 2004 and so far is one of the best records I have heard this year, if not the best.