Album of the Week: Drive-By Truckers, 'The Unraveling'
by Bill DeVille
January 27, 2020
Three and a half years since their last album, Drive-By Truckers have returned from their longest break yet. The band that recorded the anthem "Hell No I Ain't Happy," still isn't.
Drive-By Truckers have been wearing their hearts on their sleeves, reliably making their brand of music now for over 20 years. Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and the band are true believers in the power of song.
On their new album, The Unraveling, they ain't singing about red Solo cups in the sunshine on the beach. Drive-By Truckers don't mince words. Songs like "Babies in Cages," and "Rosemary with A Bible and A Gun" don't really need an explanation. These southern boys are singing songs for the times.
Patterson and Mike have lots on their mind even though they've both struggled with writer's block. It's evident on "Armageddon's Back In Town," this is classic Truckers. A straight up badass rocker with a message. The Truckers are obviously thinking about how current events may impact the nation and their children. Songs are right there in the front page headlines or out your window.
"Thoughts and Prayers" is the centerpiece of this album. Touching on mass shootings, flat earthers and gun violence, it's also musically gorgeous. You can feel Patterson Hood's soulful ache.
Drive-By Truckers have become a vital mouthpiece in this complicated world, sort of the Woody Guthrie's of the era.