Drive-By Truckers: The Big To-Do (2010)

Economic downturn affects everyone differently.  For the Drive-By Truckers it means a lot of new subjects to write songs about. DBT have always written songs featuring characters who struggle with day to day living and The Big To-Do is no different. Musically this is the loudest album they have made since 2001's Southern Rock Opera.  It's an electric guitar showcase throughout most of the album with only a bit of calm (mostly) after the storm.

One of the great things about the Truckers is that they write songs from a very strong southern perspective but make them universal enough to be understood by people who have not spent much time there. I'm not usually a giant lyrics guy but DBT is one of a handful of bands who's lyrics I actually pay full attention too. I feel like I know these people even though I live a world away from where their story's are happening.

Front-man Pattersoon Hood wrote 8 of the 13 songs here and as usual they are all solid. Hood writes in a straightforward storytelling style and you get a really strong sense of the people involved. Whether it's from the perspective of a child who's father has died ("Daddy Learned To Fly"), a man who has lost his terrible job ("This Fucking Job"), or a guy lost in the depths of a bender ("The Fourth Night of My Drinking") his characters ring true.

Hood's longtime sidekick Mike Cooley has always been my favorite part of the band. He's not nearly as prolific a writer as Hood and his songs are lot more ambiguous but no less effective. "Birthday Boy" is a humorous tale of a lap dance gone wrong. "Get Downtown" (a revved up rockabilly number) chronicles the the attempts of a wife to get her lazy husband to get a job no matter how menial it is. Bassist Shonna Tucker delivers 2 great tracks as well with "(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So" (a rocking mix of motown and southern rock) the standout for me.

As I said before most of the album is a straight southern hard rock affair with a few exceptions. Tucker's "You Got Another" is a slow and haunting number while Hood's "The Flying Wallendas" and  Cooley's "Eye's Like Glue," a fantastic acoustic ballad of a father trying to relate information to his child, close the album out on a soft note.

I really enjoy everything this band does and The Big To-Do is no exception. The only problem I have is that the album just doesn't quite reach the levels they have in the past. It just feels like something is missing. Every song is good but I don't know if more than a couple are great. A lot of their past albums have taken a while to sink in for me and it's very possible that will happen as I listen to it more but for now I think it's a highly enjoyable album that falls just short of greatness.

Rating: 4/5

Track Listing

1. "Daddy Learned to Fly" (Hood) - 4:44
2. "The Fourth Night of My Drinking" (Hood) - 4:45
3. "Birthday Boy" (Cooley) - 3:36
4. "Drag the Lake Charlie" (Hood) - 3:17
5. "The Wig He Made Her Wear" (Hood) - 5:47
6. "You Got Another" (Tucker) - 5:18
7. "This Fucking Job" (Hood) - 4:58
8. "Get Downtown" (Cooley) - 3:13
9. "After the Scene Dies" (Hood) - 4:07
10. "(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So" (Tucker) - 2:03
11. "Santa Fe" (Hood) - 3:26
12. "The Flying Wallendas" (Hood) - 5:16
13. "Eyes Like Glue" (Cooley) - 3:16