"brighter than creation's dark" by the drive-by truckers

it's been almost two years since the dbt's released a blessing and a curse, but our patience seems to have paid off.  brighter than creation's dark may well be the bands consummated masterpiece.  the promise they offered us in their first major label record southern rock opera has finally come to fruition.  dark gives us honest storytelling, about character's on the fringe of society, soaked in soulful musicianship, blistering anthems for those who may have lost their way a time or two, and a couple of lamentations that will only leave the hardest of hearts with dry eyes.

one of the trucker's greatest strengths has been the collaborative nature of their song writing.  patterson hood, mike cooley, and jason isbell have all taken their shots as lead tune-smith, and that has served them well.  unfortunately, isbell left the band and struck out on his own.  in his absence, bassist shonna tucker stepped up and filled the void, and offers one of the great surprises on the record - she can write and sing with the best of them.

the first five songs on the record are as good an introduction to these neo-southern rockers as you will ever get.  the first song, two daughters and a beautiful wife is an acoustic piece written by hood, from a dead man's point of view as he worries about the family he left behind.  death is a motif one will get acquainted with early and often around the dbt's.  3 dimes down is cooley's first contribution to the record, a well produced, groove machine about livin' hard.  the righteous path is quintessential truckers, dealing with the tension between livin' right and livin' true.  hood sings "trying to keep focused as we drive down the road / like we did back in high school before the world turned cold / now the brakes are thin and the curves are fast / we're trying to hold steady on the righteous path."  the next song i'm sorry huston, introduces us to tucker the singer/song writer.  it's a beautiful number highlighting new member and former star room boy john neff's slide guitar.  and then cooley show's off his willie-esque songwriting abilities with perfect timing.

everything the dbt's are about, is represented well on dark.  but this record, more than any previous, seems to be authored and executed by musicians who know exactly who they are, what they do well, and where they are headed.  they abandoned some of their pop-ier numbers, partly due to isbell's exodus, and they have embraced the production process a little more in support of the sound.  the 19 songs on the record are all thoughtfully laid out for our consumption, and sound as good as ever.

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