Drive-By Truckers (High Hat) The Drive-By Truckers are proof that not only could Patterson Hood's songs work in a "band" setting, they practically catch on fire, race across the floor, and engulf you in their flames before you know what happened. They're great.

Review of the Truckers single, "Bulldozers and Dirt":

Drive-By Truckers
"Bulldozers and Dirt" 7-inch / Soul Dump Records
One can only hope the Drive-By Truckers turn out a full-length release sometime in the near future. If this single is any indicator of what the local phenoms are capable of in the studio, then we all have reason to rejoice.

"Bulldozers and Dirt," a popular live staple of the band's, was an ideal choice for vinyl. It's as good a representation of their sound as any: mandolin, pedal steel and upright bass joined with guitar and drums to form something off-kilter, amusing and uncannily good. It's not country rock, exactly -- country folk's probably a more accurate term, if you need a label. Makes you wonder if this is what the Eagles sound like in one of those evil alternate realities. But the clincher is Patterson Hood's gut-wrenchingly great voice, a high-pitched croak peppered with charming doses of degeneracy. He's the perfect narrator for the Truckers' boisterous redneck fables, missives that take country's baser elements to delightful new heights of absurdity.

"Bulldozers" is an offbeat love story, of sorts, replete with pickup trucks, gambling debts, fist fights and booze, along with nutty sing-along choruses you'd have to be dead not to like: "Red clay balls are heaven on earth/I get my rocks off bulldozers and dirt." I mean, c'mon. "Nine Bullets," the single's B-side, carries on the Trucker tradition just as proudly. Figuring out the narrative behind this one's pretty much a no-brainer: "My roommate's gun got nine bullets/And I'm gonna find a use for every last one." Patterson expands on his scheme, much to the chagrin of his boss, dry cleaning lady, immediate family and just about everyone else. Observe the "fate" of the philandering female, for instance: "One for the love who chose to betray me/A real fine loving woman be true/One for the man she betrayed with/Nice enough fella she'll betray him too." Even if you tend to ignore the local bins, strongly consider adding this one to your collection; it really doesn't get much better than this. If you don't own a record player, this is as good an incentive as any to go search one out.