Is it just me, or do Drive-By Truckers really suck

[fairysari]

I find their new album is a lot less in-your-face with the Southern stuff.

I don't mind it though, I like the story-telling in their songs, especially the kinda autobiographical ones (let there be rock, zip city). But if i really want to hear some Southern rock, I'll listen to the Dexateens .

[Admin]

Just you.

[tlon]

Jul 26, 2010 18:47:19 GMT -5 fairysari said:

I find their new album is a lot less in-your-face with the Southern stuff.

I don't mind it though, I like the story-telling in their songs, especially the kinda autobiographical ones (let there be rock, zip city). But if i really want to hear something Southern, I'll listen to the Dexateens .

man the reaction when they played Let There Be Rock here was as insane as you'd imagine
when i ask people about my hometown i just point them to Lovecraft

love Jason Isbell's 'Outfit' but, again, don't know how accurate it is. growing up in the North the South was always this massive, scary Other

[ct]

i will be nice and not say anything at all.....well, to the original poster....

as for how accurate DBT are about the South and Southerners. Patterson and Cooley tell stories about north Alabama, north Georgia and southeast/middle Tennessee. of course there are going to be exaggerated characters in the stories, but i know people that could play the parts in many of the DBT stories. Southern Rock Opera captures a period in north Alabama and does a very good job of explaining that period from someone graduating and leaving the area. i know what it is like to move away from that area and see the preconceived ideas people have of people from the Southeast.

A Blessing and Curse is what i consider the DBT low point because they had gotten away from telling specific stories. they had migrated to more general stories that seem to be more of the Isbell style. Brighher and The Big To-Do have seen a return to more specific stories or time periods. that plays to the strength of Patterson and Cooley telling stories.

i know that DBT can have uneven shows. a lot of that comes from not having a set list and building off of the audience's energy. sometimes DBT can pull off three or four slower songs and some people may not want that at a rock show. i have seen DBT shows that completely destroy and then i have seen DBT shows that were just good. i can say that from most bands that i have seen. i saw the unscripted THS show last year and it was the worst THS show i have seen.

i don't really think of DBT as southern rock band anymore than i think of THS as a New York City band. i consider DBT to be a rock band that tells stories about the South and THS to be a rock band that tells stories about Minnesota and the upper mid-west.

good music like good stories come from people building from their experiences. i wouldn't expect Craig Finn to base his stories on Texas. i wouldn't expect Frank Turner to sing about Japan. i want the stories to take me some other place than where i am right now. whether it is back home to southeast Tennessee or somewhere in the UK. let there be rock......


(i am in no way objective when it comes to DBT, Lucero, THS or many other bands. take what i say as you will....)

[thomasj368]

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.

Ah, there's the rub. I don't think that just because a bad has a lot of fans means they aren't bad. Nickelback sells out shows too.

Do DBT accurately represent the south? I think that's the wrong question. We don't have to have arguments about whether THS "accurately represents the midwest," because they're not TRYING to represent the midwest. They're just telling stories about characters who, yes, happen to be from the midwest. Their stories do reflect something about the midwest, of course. But DBTs songs have this pretense that they are cultural ambassadors from the south as a whole, painting in broad strokes about whiskey and mama and papa and trucks and strippers. It's just really immature and, quite frankly, patronizing to southerners.

[tlon]

broad strokes? 'Daddy's Cup' (or Daddy's Trophy, maybe) is about trying to win a demolition derby to make your dad proud. they talk about specific cultural figures and events from their life

maybe i'm part of the problem but listening to DBTs has humanized the south for me

[mike]

it takes me on a voyage into my pockets to see if i've still got the receipt.

[Rhinovirus]

I think the term "Reductio ad Nickelbackum" needs to be put into common language for the musical equivalent to "Reductio ad Hitlerum"

[hoodrat]

Jul 27, 2010 1:11:35 GMT -5 thomasj368 said:

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.

Ah, there's the rub. I don't think that just because a bad has a lot of fans means they aren't bad. Nickelback sells out shows too.

Do DBT accurately represent the south? I think that's the wrong question. We don't have to have arguments about whether THS "accurately represents the midwest," because they're not TRYING to represent the midwest. They're just telling stories about characters who, yes, happen to be from the midwest. Their stories do reflect something about the midwest, of course. But DBTs songs have this pretense that they are cultural ambassadors from the south as a whole, painting in broad strokes about whiskey and mama and papa and trucks and strippers. It's just really immature and, quite frankly, patronizing to southerners.

DBT aren't "trying" to "represent the South" either. they actually repeatedly disavow it, for good or ill, in both lyrics and in interviews. that's all you. whiskey and mama and papa and trucks and strippers are all a piece of their own story, which happens to be southern. tell what you know. they actually do a good job, i think, of making those things seem like people with depth and not like stock characters out of deliverance. to be clear, there's plenty there that your average southerner won't identify with, but i have no doubt whatsoever that patterson and cooley do.

[iowan]

It's just you. DBT are probably my favorite band of the past few years, with THS in a close, close 2nd.

DBT are honest, unique, and straight up rock your fucking balls off. There aren't many bands who can rock a song like "Lookout Mountain".

And to the guy who said that Patterson Hood can't sing and his voice is annoying: we're Hold Steady fans. Hello? McFly? Craig Finn is incredible, but he's not a "good" singer (and neither is Patterson Hood). Pot, meet kettle.

[grapefruitmoon]

i personally can't stand the way people often refer to "the south" as some far-and-away place, like never-never land or the LOST island. like southerners are aliens or the like... i've spent quite a bit of time traveling through tennesse, texas, and louisiana, and i haven't met many people who appreciate being referred to as "southern" as if it's their defining characteristic. "tell me about the south?" how generalizing is that? it's just like any other place in this country, or any other.

i live in pennsylvania and perform in coffee shops and bars on occasion, and i mostly write story songs about the years i spent living in the ghetto of baltimore, but nobody refers to me as being "from baltimore." granted, this is likely because i perform one weekend a month for fun and am a fraction of a fraction of a fraction as well known as DBT, but still... my friends and i could tell you just as many horror stories about charm city as DBT tells about the south, or THS tells about minneapolis... granted, again, we wouldn't tell them as well.

bands like DBT, lucero, etc. wear their heritage on their sleeves and in their songs, but i don't think this is how we should judge them as bands, the same way we don't need to judge soul asylum & the replacements as "minneapolis bands" or springsteen and TGA as "new jersey bands." just judge them as bands, period.

someone started a thread months ago, something like "who's your favorite minneapolis band, soul asylum or the replacements?" i'd love the replacements just as much if they came from montana, or soul asylum if they came from idaho. same with DBT... they're great story tellers, and i think patterson and cooley could tell stories just as well about canadians who get drunk and go ice fishing.

[tlon]

Jul 27, 2010 5:44:58 GMT -5 @bocephus said:

saying that all DBT writes about is "the south" is like saying all Springsteen writes about is New Jersey.
They paint a picture, where it takes you depends on who YOU are.

yes but when a band writes an album called Southern Rock Opera and has songs like Southern Things and lyrics about what it means to be a Southerner you can kinda assume they might write just a bit about The South

and like Craig said, 'where your from is where your from'. i don't think there's anything wrong with identifying somebody who really does capture a sense of place in their music. THS does it, Springsteen does it, my mate Perry Keyes does it about Sydney - they write songs with universal emotions but the details are specific. and that's great - it grounds it

[marshal28]

Regardless of my views of the band and their music (Fucking great...): Isn't their last album accessible to everybody? It might be rural, but it doesn't seem that "South" to me.

[Sunny D]

C'mon guys.

[panamajack]

I love DBT. So what if they play up the Southern shit a bit much? That's what they do, it's who they are, it's what they write about. Also I'm a huge alt-country fan and I come from a long line of white trash, so maybe that's it.

[heidivandernice, nice]

they took a while to grow on me, but i love them now.

as for it being just you... is it just you who makes polarizing, unsupported statements? in this case, yes, yes it is.

[tlon]

yeah it was weird because everyone i knew just expected me to love them... i saw them live and they were amazing but it's still taking me time to get into them. they really do have alot of songs that could be dropped from their albums but they also have songs that are utterly essential to life

[jpharis53]

Jul 27, 2010 10:37:57 GMT -5 iowan said:

And to the guy who said that Patterson Hood can't sing and his voice is annoying: we're Hold Steady fans. Hello? McFly? Craig Finn is incredible, but he's not a "good" singer (and neither is Patterson Hood). Pot, meet kettle.

Ha! Calm down, buddy... ;D

I freakin' love his songs, and the way he sings! "That Man I Shot" is one of my favorites, and lately I've been digging "Drag the Lake"... I wasn't trying to deride him, just being honest.

[missalabamanobody]

Jul 28, 2010 18:36:12 GMT -5 tlon said:

yeah it was weird because everyone i knew just expected me to love them... i saw them live and they were amazing but it's still taking me time to get into them. they really do have alot of songs that could be dropped from their albums but they also have songs that are utterly essential to life

That's because Patterson is way too prolific, which makes the albums a little bit same-same, and some of the choices are just weird. Flying Wallenda? wtf? How to bring a show to a grinding halt.

I wish Cooley wrote faster.

[jpharis53]

Aug 12, 2010 17:52:36 GMT -5 missalabamanobody said:

I wish Cooley wrote faster.

;D

[cory]

Just you. I've seen DBT live 5 or 6 times and they've been some of my favorite shows ever.

[roboreckles]

Jul 24, 2010 21:25:25 GMT -5 hoodrat said:

Just you

YUP

[lindakaylund]

I love them maybe because I am an old lady. But I do.

[kojiroshinkara]

I'm not really into DBT, but I can respect what they're trying to do. I wouldn't say I hate them, but I don't really have a big interest. I can kinda attest this to where I was born and raised, eg, urban areas, aka Los Angeles.

Although I do really love the Allman Bros. Probably my favorite Southern Rock band.

[Mahoney]

their concert completely changed my view on them. which is to say i like them a lot now. Someday, they will put out an incredible hits album. their albums seem to have slow spots, where they ruin a really good flow.