AWESOME ALBUM ALERT: DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS "THE BIG TO-DO"

Well, the year isn't over yet, but I'm starting to think about what my favorite albums of the years are, so I'll be featuring some of them over the next few posts. I've kind of said it before: I think my favorite album of the year is The Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do. A lot of the artists who I write about on No Expiration have been around for decades, but I was just getting into this band at around the time I started this blog, about three years ago. I don't think I would have gotten as into the band without the great SIRIUS XM channel Outlaw Country. But then they turned out to be one of my favorite bands of the '00s. And I recently wrote about how their Southern Rock Opera hit me as hard as Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back.

I've said it before, they are kind of like a combination of Skynyrd and Springsteen, with a bit of Replacements thrown in. Soul, sweat, grit and great storytelling.  Characters on the edge, making decisions. Most of the bands that are big today would have looked ridiculous in the '50s, '60s or '70s.  The Drive-By Truckers?  If they were around back then, they'd be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by now.

But as for the latest album, it just works from start to finish.  I love the first single, "This Fucking Job," I feel like it really captures this particular moment in time. "I'm trying to hang on to the worst of places, but my family can't eat on these fast food wages." This song could have been on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, right next to "Factory." I listen to this, and can't believe that it's the preacher man's sons who are selling millions of records. "Birthday Boy," told from the perspective of a stripper. The song doesn't judge. Or in "The Wig He Made Her Wear," about a preacher's wife who killed him (based on a true story!). Again, no judging, just observations to incredible music. I'm kind of blown away by this album every time I listen to it, and what's amazing is that they have the next one ready already. Go Go Boots will be out February 15.