Go-Go Boots

Drive-by Truckers’ expressive and stylistically divers albums

The American band Drive-by Truckers is based in Atlanta, Georgia, plays alternative country and is known for often releasing its recordings in the form of vinyl records except for usual discs. The band was formed in 1996 by Patterson Hood, the son of bassist David Hood playing in the famous country-soul band The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Hood was soon joined by his life-long friend Mike Cooley. The two musicians had tried to create a band before, played in different collectives in their native Alabama, and then parted ways to meet again in Georgia. During the late 1990s Drive-by Truckers became one of the first acts to use Internet to attract their fans’ attention. The other means of that kind was the cover arts made by artist Wes Freed, the band’s old friend, starting from the 1998’s debut Gangstabilly and until today. Yet the musicians spend enough time and effort not only to the form but also to their works’ content making many of them conceptual. Today Drive-by Truckers has gained a constant growing following, tours with stars of Tom Petty’s size and continues releasing interesting, expressive and stylistically divers albums. The newest creation Go-Go Boots is no exception.

Previously marked tendencies are developed on Go-Go Boots

Drive-by Truckers’ line-up has changed more than once, and today the band includes, besides Hood and Cooley, Shonna Tucker playing bass guitar, guitarist John Neff (also known for playing his steel pedal guitar), drummer Brad Morgan and keyboardist Jay Gonzalez. The latter was the last one to join the band after Spooner Oldham’s proving back in 2008 that keyboards are able to change the band’s sounding to the better when he took part in the recording of Brighter Than Creation's Dark, one of its best albums. In 2009 the musicians got to work on their new material and got so absorbed in that work that they released enough tracks to make two albums at once within several months. The first of them, The Big To-Do, was released last year, and it was the keyboardist’s participation that defined its sounding marrying summer country and hints at sullen soul in many ways. The second part of the successful sessions’ result is the record Go-Go Boots, ninth in Drive-by Truckers’ discography and eighth recorded with producer David Barbe. The tendencies marked on the previous album are developed on this album – Drive-by Truckers presents the listeners with more than an hour of mesmerizing music against which the listeners as if they were viewers watch clearly depicted characters reflecting on their lives in a dark twilight hour.

Black humor, acoustic guitar, sullen irony

According to Patterson Hood himself, the album Go-Go Boots is most reminiscent of his father’s band’s creative work offering wonderful classic soul elements and two covers of one of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section’s members Eddie Hinton’s songs. Yet vivid melodies, this time with acoustic guitars prevailing in them, as well as conceptual lyrics have always been the main merits of Drive-by Truckers’ music. The songs’ protagonists on Go-Go Boots are people from little towns whose life is described in an ironically sullen key here. Most of the fourteen songs are flavored with a significant portion of black humor, and the fine music palette fits it perfectly well. The title track is especially demonstrative in this respect: a story filled with hopelessness is unveiled against the background of splendid blues guitars. Another highlight is Ray's Automatic Weapon with excellent contagious drums, melodious guitars, against which sullenly soft vocals is telling far from the kindest story. The first of the two covers is Everybody Needs Love, one of the most positive tracks on the album refined with amazing guitar solo and impressive Hood’s vocals. The second one, Where's Eddie, pleases with marvelous female vocals by Shonna Tucker and that may well be the reason for its serving an obvious record’s highlight. The single The Thanksgiving Filter was released on a vinyl record back in November; the B-side was Used to Be a Cop, both of the songs demonstrated that Drive-by Truckers is in a great form both as songwriters and musicians. The best way to confirm that is the soulful closing ballad Mercy Buckets, and as it the album comes to its end one is only left to dream of hearing these songs at this remarkable band’s live performance.