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9. Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse
BIG DICK McGEE:
It’s a classic bind. When a band that’s heads and shoulders above its contemporaries puts out a record that’s maybe only a few hairs better than most, can you really consider that a disappointment? I mean, even a middling Drive-By Truckers record is reason to pop a fifth of Jack and expect a visit from the cops, right?
Well, yeah. There’s still plenty here that brings the rowdy we’ve come to expect from these Georgians; the last-chance come-on of “Wednesday” or the endless free fall of decadence in “Gravity’s Gone” stand out the most. But even those bright lights suffer from the album’s defining ailment of echoey production that robs the band of its unhinged intensity. Nothing here sizzles like “Guitar Man Upstairs” from “Southern Rock Opera” or boasts the raw nerve honesty of “Decoration Day”’s “When The Pin Hits The Shell.” Instead, bassist Shonna Tucker is everywhere and nowhere at once, drummer Brad Morgan’s barely more than a “thwump” and principal singer Patterson Hood gets all the character drained from his vocals.
Given all that, “A Blessing And A Curse” should be a disaster that finds the Truckers operating on maybe half its cylinders. And there are definitely some spots that are just plain mediocre. But it’s a testament to the song-writing talent of this group — easily one of the top five American rock bands today — that “Easy On Yourself” can still rate as a topflight highway rocker sure to get some blue and red lights flashing in the rearview mirror.
Vanlandingham:
It seems that, whether they like it or not, Drive-By Truckers have been proclaimed by many as the spokesmen for an entire region and entire culture of people. On top of that Rolling Stone declared them as the best southern rock money can buy, while allmusic declared them the best hard rock band in America today. No matter how you slice it that’s some pretty high praise, but is more than justified. After all, there aren’t many bands out there that even have one credible songwriter yet DBT have the big three in Hood, Cooley, and Isbell, each of whom have their own individual style. Sure the big, crunchy, riff happy three guitar style attack is awesome, and the rhythm section of Shonna Tucker and Brad Morgan is as solid as any could possibly be. But I believe that the one thing that keeps bringing listeners back each album more than anything is the songwriting.
To say that DBT’s
A Blessing and a Curse was one of my more highly anticipated releases of 2006 would probably be a pretty fair understatement. But I made the mistake of trying to treat it as one unified and cohesive album, much like their last three have been. It’s a similar mistake to the one that I made back in 2004 when, as an impetuous youth, tried to listen to
The Dirty South as if it were a collection of individual tracks and not as a whole work. DBT fooled me twice, and the shame was planted squarely on my shoulders. Be that as it may
A Blessing and a Curse doesn’t play as well as a traditional LP as
The Dirty South or
Southern Rock Opera, but that’s ok because the album doesn’t need to. While on
The Dirty South the songwriting duties were split pretty evenly Hood takes front and center on the new one, writing and singing seven of eleven tracks. Without an underlying theme or focus the songs are free to flow the way they want and the result is the most earnest set of songs the band has put out, and perhaps is their best collection of songs when considered on an individual basis. At least that’s how I see it.
I remember I was driving home from work with this album blasting on the stereo this past summer and at a traffic light a 40-something in a BMW asked me what Lynyrd Skynyrd song I was playing. While I laughed off the question at the time, it eventually got me to thinking about where the group fits into the bigger music picture. The ultimate truth is that DBT are not only worthy wearers of the southern rock crown, but also are one of the best rock bands in the country. Period.
8. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Sen LooGAR:
I suppose it is cliche, but you cannot review Band of Horses debut album "Everything All the Time" without bringing up the 800 lb. Gorilla. Do they sound like My Morning Jacket? Kind of. They also sound like Built to Spill, a little like Iron and Wine, and definitely owe a debt of gratitude to U2 -- a band that pretty well pioneered the 76-seconds-of-delay-on-the-guitar sound.
So, like many bands, they are a product of influences. Unlike many bands, they transcend those influences on their debut to achieve something greater than the sum of their parts. From the first chiming guitar licks of "First Song" to the last sweet strums of the beautiful and wrenching "St. Augustine" this album is built upon a foundation of slow-burners that build to a mighty crescendo. The highlight definitely being "The Funeral" -- easily the best non-rap single of 2006.
Sketch:
My major hang up with
Everything All the Time is that it feels like an indie pop record purposefully written for today's mainstream emo kids. It's definitely well-crafted: the songwriting and arrangements are solid, and the production is adequate if not a bit excessive at times. Some of the guitar lines are pretty tasty, and the drumming is a major performance highlight. Does the rudimentary bass-playing deserve its own highlight at the beginning of "Our Swords", though? Many indie superheroes have acquired-taste vocals (Doug Martsch), but Bridwell doesn't seem like the right guy for the job here. Where's Jim James when you need him? While the variety of upbeat pop and folk ballads is well-balanced, very few moments really stand out like bits of "Wicked Gil" and the ending of "The Funeral." In a genre whose fanbase values originality, engagement, and variety, Band of Horses’s debut seems to deliver little of the first two and not enough of the third to compensate. It could simply be that the album is trying too hard to be its namesake.
7. Built to Spill - You in Reverse
Sketch:
You in Reverse: An Obner Oral History
NOTE: Number in parentheses indicate poster's year-end ranking
Mr. Mister: "someone told me that this has leaked... anybody know if this is true, and if so, how is it? i'm quite curious..."
DunwoodyDude: "I love me some BTS, but don't know how excited I am by this. Probably stupid to feel this way, but it just seems like their time has passed for me."
Harry Monster: "I feel pretty much the same way... I'll prolly get it though, maybe it will suprise me."
shmoo: "What new Built To Spill?" (12)
Sketch: "I've waited 4+ years. Another few months won't kill me." (2)
Timmyjoe: "This is destined to replace Paper Airplane Pilots - Western Automatic Music as my favorite disc of the year." (7)
bort: "does anyone have a non-"this is mike jones" advance?" (17)
pumachik: "i only have the demo versions but man, even still... SO DAMN GOOD! i can't friken wait for this album to come out." (17)
gauchebag: "it needs to come out finalized because the demos are just so damn sick." (3)
catswilleatyou: "holy shit this is awesome"
elephantstone: "this album fucking
's" (7)
Mr. Mister: "If you liked perfect from now on and keep it like a secret, this record falls somewhere inbetween there, but much less polished than either of those two records."
andyfest: "It just seems more smooth than Ancient Melodies or something. I think I'm really going to like this one." (18 )
greezy: "it sounds like a built to spill record. so far there's no obvious hooks that have grabbed me, but i can see this being a grower, especially once the lyrics get deciphered.."
Saint: "the 3 songs on the b2s website are stellar!!!!!"
Flying Rabbit: "My god is Conventional Wisdom catchy... I'm happy for Mr. Martsch, this album should be a huge success."
SpontaneousPoet: "That was a mighty fine first listen." (10)
tommy two bums: "This is ... more akin to some of the earlier releases." (31)
Ripple Red: "Album of the year... There's nothing revolutionary or anything. Just straight ahead rock and damn good guitars."
Yail Bloor: "After one listen, I think that it is pretty damn good, they definitely jam out in some sections but I barely noticed it becoming too tedious even if most of the songs are long as shit. Probably had a lot to do with being in the truck. (BTS have always been a great driving band). Standout track for me so far is "Wherever You Go'" (2)
DHRjericho: "I'm a big fan [of BtS] and this record easily ranks 4th or could be 5th [in BtS' catalog]. Maybe it'll grow but albums 2-4 are the gems." (20)
pumachik: "when i saw them on this tour, it killed it for me. but, i'll have to re-visit this because i'm sure i'll fall in love with it again..." (17)
andyfest: "This album is pretty good but I don't find myself listening to it much. Some great guitar work and a couple of decent songs but I think the songs are a bit on the long side for me." (18 )
billy g: "Its good not great. I like it but don't have a lot of confidence that I'll be listening to this much in future years." ("Somewhere in the mid 40's i guess.")
paper: "I'm a huge fan of this this band, and I like this one not quite love it." (17)
Rick Derris: "This album is fan-fucking-tastic to these ears. I'll never doubt you again Doug. Still friends?"
FT:
I hadn’t really heard too much Built to Spill before diving in to
You in Reverse, but I thought the few tunes I had heard were OK, so I was at least mildly optimistic. Unfortunately, that mild optimism soon morphed into slight disappointment, as I heard one song after another that went on at least twice as long as necessary. There’s more cheap noodling found here than on a college freshman’s dorm room hot plate. Repetition is also a major culprit hindering this album. A prime example is “Goin’ Against Your Mind,” which would actually be a pretty good song, were it not for the title being sung 80,000 times. It’s those last 45,000 or so “Goin’ Against Your Mind”s that push what would have been a cool four-minute track far past the eight-minute mark, pushing me toward a game of “Let’s See What’s Inside Budd Dwyer’s Paper Bag.” I mean, the framework is there for a really good, enjoyable album, but just about every song suffers from a case of aural gluttony. And let’s face it, just like W.C Fields used to say about kids, Kobayashi’s better seen than heard. Heck, I’m usually the first one to go back for my fifth and sixth trips through the buffet line, but You in Reverse managed to do what previously seemed impossible: left me without an appetite for more. Another few albums like this, and I’ll end up like Jared, instead of my predestined future of needing a wrecking ball just to leave the house. Please don’t deprive me of my dream, Doug Martsch.
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