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Post by thomasj368 on Jul 24, 2010 21:20:26 GMT -5
I know, I know. tons of THS fans also love the Drive-By Truckers. I've always been merely lukewarm about them, until a friend dragged me to see them in DC last night. Now, I simply think they blow really hard.
They give a bad name to rock storytelling; all of their songs are so horribly cliche southern schtick. ("Daddy played poker in the woods they say, back in his younger days" -- And that's one of their more bearable songs.)
If there was a word cloud of their lyrics, "daddy," "mama," "ain't," "whiskey" and any permutation of double negatives would be by far the most prominent.
I am totally prepared to get flamed, just needed to vent and see if their is anyone who else really likes THS but hates DBT.
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Post by hoodrat on Jul 24, 2010 21:25:25 GMT -5
Just you
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Post by jpharis53 on Jul 24, 2010 21:52:49 GMT -5
Seconded. ;D I can see where maybe the Southern story-telling wouldn't translate well in "foreign lands"... Haha! For me, the stories are so relevant, the characters are people I've seen. (Hell, some of the characters have been me on occasion.) |
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Post by Andy on Jul 24, 2010 23:29:41 GMT -5
I would consider myself a casual fan of the band, but the show last night was lukewarm at best. The highs were great ("Marry Me", "Three Dimes Down" , "Zip City" and a handful more) and the rest was just meh. Towards the end I kept hoping this song would be the last of the night. It was a casualty of hype and a lack of familiarity with the material that ruined this show for me.
As for them "blowing hard," I disagree. Having lived in the South, in or very close to the Bible belt, for my entire life they paint a pretty accurate character study of life down there. The expression of write about what you know comes to mind here.
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bigrob
Midnight Hauler
i guess i knew it was coming
Posts: 1,352
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Post by bigrob on Jul 25, 2010 1:23:50 GMT -5
I beg to differ.
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Post by kickingitwithkevin on Jul 25, 2010 2:08:50 GMT -5
I'm with you Thomas. I've bought a couple of their albums off the back of the 'love THS therefore will love DBT' equation, and really felt like I was missing something! I've given them my best shot, but it's really not happening.
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Post by delboydrums on Jul 25, 2010 8:05:36 GMT -5
I really loved Dirty South but struggled with Southern Rock Opera.
Like what I've heard of new album, but I need to hear more.
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Post by hard corey on Jul 25, 2010 10:20:03 GMT -5
i am not a fan whatsoever, but announcing that they suck is probably not the best way to discuss the band around these parts.
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Post by hoodrat on Jul 25, 2010 11:17:00 GMT -5
I would consider myself a casual fan of the band, but the show last night was lukewarm at best. The highs were great ("Marry Me", "Three Dimes Down" , "Zip City" and a handful more) and the rest was just meh. Towards the end I kept hoping this song would be the last of the night. It was a casualty of hype and a lack of familiarity with the material that ruined this show for me. hmmm. i guess i would say that this show was lukewarm for them; i've seen them put on truly great once-in-a-lifetime type of performances, and friday night was not. but i'm surprised to hear you think it was lukewarm in general. they sounded tight to me and looked to be having a good time and played most of my favorites. that said, it felt a little downtempo and low energy for a truckers show to me. i blame it on the oppressive heat. still, i think i'd watch patterson paint a fencepost and enjoy it; he'd probably have a good story about it. |
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Post by doctoracula on Jul 25, 2010 11:49:18 GMT -5
i think they're just OK
i'd probably enjoy them live
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Post by fairysari on Jul 25, 2010 12:09:40 GMT -5
Umm, just you?
I think they're effing awesome, but it did take seeing them a few times for me to think that.
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tlon
Midnight Hauler
Lying down on Lansdowne
Posts: 2,337
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Post by tlon on Jul 25, 2010 18:44:48 GMT -5
they're really uneven. it comes from having 3? 4? songwriters. every album has some cracking songs and some filler
but when they're on... Marry Me, Zip City, Righteous Path, Steve McQueen, Danko Manuel, Carl Perkins Cadillac... they're ON
i gotta say though as someone who was raised in New England and who's barely met any Southerners i love learning about 'the Southern thing' though their lyrics
i saw them with Booker T and it was probably the greatest show of my life
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Post by fairysari on Jul 25, 2010 19:53:45 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree - I have a strong preference for Cooley songs (burned myself a disc of only Cooley songs, even), and I skip past most of Shonna's songs...
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Post by jpharis53 on Jul 25, 2010 20:04:02 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree - I have a strong preference for Cooley songs (burned myself a disc of only Cooley songs, even), and I skip past most of Shonna's songs... I do the exact same thing! Haha! Cooley's written some of the best lines I've ever heard. I think what's so surprising is just how "backwoods" Cooley sounds, and then he writes these lines that are filled with so much wisdom and awareness. Shonna. I think she's a great country singer, but its not my thing. I'm still trying to figure out why I like Patterson: He can't sing, and his voice is mostly annoying, but something about it I like. |
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tlon
Midnight Hauler
Lying down on Lansdowne
Posts: 2,337
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Post by tlon on Jul 25, 2010 20:29:02 GMT -5
i love Jason Isbell too
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Post by mike on Jul 26, 2010 4:27:19 GMT -5
i think they're just OK i'd probably enjoy them live i think i only feel slightly less enthusiastic than this about them. |
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toastie
Sniffling Indie Kid
Posts: 159
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Post by toastie on Jul 26, 2010 8:04:27 GMT -5
DBT are alright. Whiskeytown did what DBT do but took it to the next level and carried a lot more pain in the songs. Lucero also do a better job. Of course, I'm possibly comparing apples and oranges.
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Post by Rhinovirus on Jul 26, 2010 8:06:11 GMT -5
They allowed me to see Chillout Tent live. For that I love them forever.
I'm not too enamored with the rest of the songs they played though.
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toastie
Sniffling Indie Kid
Posts: 159
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Post by toastie on Jul 26, 2010 9:35:23 GMT -5
They all remind me of Steve Earle in the Copperhead Road phase. And he did it better than all of em. Maybe they should all be on drugs. |
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Post by delboydrums on Jul 26, 2010 14:02:27 GMT -5
I also favour Cooley's stuff, and previously Jason Isbell's.
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bigtom
Cityscape Skin
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Post by bigtom on Jul 26, 2010 14:50:31 GMT -5
I know, I know. tons of THS fans also love the Drive-By Truckers. I've always been merely lukewarm about them, until a friend dragged me to see them in DC last night. Now, I simply think they blow really hard. They give a bad name to rock storytelling; all of their songs are so horribly cliche southern schtick. ("Daddy played poker in the woods they say, back in his younger days" -- And that's one of their more bearable songs.) If there was a word cloud of their lyrics, "daddy," "mama," "ain't," "whiskey" and any permutation of double negatives would be by far the most prominent. I am totally prepared to get flamed, just needed to vent and see if their is anyone who else really likes THS but hates DBT. How can you say a band that consistantly sells out shows sucks? If you don't like them that's fine but saying a band sucks just because it's not your cup of tea is pretty harsh. DBT and THS are huge fans of each other's bands...maybe you should choose your words a little differently next time. They Blow? Are you like 12 or something? |
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Post by thecutoutwitch on Jul 26, 2010 17:48:24 GMT -5
was a big fan years ago. saw them a million and 8 times. loved all the records through "decoration day". cannot stand to listen to any of it now. i don't really know what happened. maybe my being from the actual south had something to do with it. i think they stopped being a great southern rock band and started buying into their own bullshit.
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tlon
Midnight Hauler
Lying down on Lansdowne
Posts: 2,337
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Post by tlon on Jul 26, 2010 18:26:42 GMT -5
how accurate are they? i've met like 5 Southerners, and most of them were visiting musicians
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Post by thecutoutwitch on Jul 26, 2010 18:38:41 GMT -5
i think they started writing songs heavy on the schtick...heavy on the way the south is supposed to be perceived...the way people who aren't from there want it to be. moonshine, daddies, preachers, got it...which, there is that element to the south. although, that's more appalachia and less muscle shoals. they just don't encapsulate the southern vibe for me any longer. i would even garner to say that the stones understood the south better. it's just not timeless. it doesn't feel organic. basically, if i want to bathe in my southerness, in the southern mystique, i listen to early r.e.m. those records capture the weird, the joy, and the despair a lot better. and you can tell those dudes lived it, got it, meant it. plus, bonus, you get the image of a young peter buck in puffy shirts...score!
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Post by hoodrat on Jul 26, 2010 18:46:16 GMT -5
as a great man once said, peoples is peoples. sure, there is such a cultural narrative as the American South. or perhaps many narratives. DBT is actually pretty good at capturing a piece of those Souths. Not so much other pieces. i continue to find DBT remarkably honest storytellers . . . .
there's a Faulkner story in which a young Southern man goes to Harvard and his roommate demands of him, (paraphrasing from memory here) . . . "Tell about the South. What do they do there? How do people live there? Why do they live at all?" As someone who has many times been asked to "tell about the South" I can only say it is an unanswerable question, or at least rarely one worth answering to people who ask.
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