Drive By Truckers: A Blessing and a Curse

This week’s new CDs & DVD releases: Allright, this is definitely not much of “New York” album but sometimes even Real New Yorkers fancy a shot of Jack and a does of Skynard-style alt-rock. The Drive-By-Truckers, seven albums and over a decade into their career, have hit full stride with A Blessing And A Curse. If you are not familiar with DBT, they’re kinda like The Outlaws if Raymond Carver wrote the lyrics. They’re kinda like .38 Special with only one drummer. They’re kinda like The Allman Brothers without the noodly jams. They are literate southerners who rock like hell. The album (at 11 songs) and the songs themselves are a bit tighter, a bit more focused, a bit less epic than previous stabs. It’s pretty much the same sad tales of love & loss, the road & the game, served up with a healthy dose of Muscle Shoals boogie and fat Les Paul guitar, just slightly more refined (if Southern Rock can ever be called “refined”). Without a doubt, one of the best straight-up rock bands in the US of A at this point.

Out this week on DVD: the Quentin Tarantino produced gore-fest Hostel, and Mrs. Henderson Presents starring Judi Dench.

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