New York, NY—ATO Records is pleased to announce the signing of Drive-By Truckers and their label debut, The Big To-Do. The album, which will be the band’s tenth in their thirteen-year career, is scheduled to be released March 16, 2010. The Big To-Do features thirteen new tracks from the Drive-By Truckers and was produced by their long time producer, David Barbe (Sugar, Bettye LaVette). “It’s very much a rock album,” says Patterson Hood of the Trucker’s upcoming release. “Very melodic and more rocking than anything we’ve done since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.”

The inspiration for The Big To-Do came to the band during their time on the road. “We’ve often set our songs and albums in different periods of time, but this one finds us directly in our present. Riding all through the highways of America (and Europe) trying to make sense of a very different world than the one we grew up in,” says Hood. “I don’t write a lot of songs on the road, but I did more than usual on this album and many more were inspired by or set there, either in a literal sense or something I witnessed or heard about while I was out there.”

Hood and Mike Cooley continue to be the chief songwriters of the group, continuing a musical partnership that has lasted over twenty-three years. Bassist, Shonna Tucker, flexes her songwriting muscles once again by contributing two original songs to the album. Brad Morgan (drums), John Neff (guitar/pedal steel) and Jay Gonzalez (keyboards) round out the current Drive-By Truckers lineup.

The band recently backed legendary R&B musician, Booker T. Jones, on his critically acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album, Potato Hole. The album is nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album and Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

The Drive-By Truckers will be hitting the road at the beginning of the new year. A full tour supporting The Big To-Do will be announced in early 2010.

The Big To-Do Track Listing:
1. Daddy Learned to Fly
2. The Fourth Night of My Drinking
3. Birthday Boy
4. Drag the Lake Charlie
5. The Wig He Made Her Wear
6. You Got Another
7. This Fucking Job
8. Get Downtown
9. After the Scene Dies
10. (It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So
11. Santa Fe
12. The Flying Wallendas
13. Eyes Like Glue
14. Girls Who Smoke (Bonus track – vinyl only)

nice.

Sign me up!

Make mine a double. Blessing and a Curse finally grew on me. Especially Cooley's stuff, as always.

Damn, another album?? These guys don't quit. I've barely had time to process the b-sides record.

There are still four or five tracks on Blessing that rub me the wrong way. But everything else on that album is spectacular, and I wouldn't expect anything but the same on the new one. The fact that Hood is comparing the record to disc 2 of SRO is pretty darn enticing.

ATO is a really good fit for them.

Best band.

Although as I make my decade end list, I am having a really tough time placing any of their records, because I have honestly come to realize that I cannot say which album is my favorite, it changes daily.

Yeah, Sasky-- bringing up your old stuff is a pretty ballsy way to try to bring back your old fans. No offense to Patterson and co. - but like I said before, Isbell's stuff does circles around theirs.

i'm curious to know which songs irk you. i prefer blessing to most of their other albums, largely because it feels more varied and is a good deal shorter. won't say that it's flawless (or that i'm not a big fan of their other albums) but there's little on blessing that gets on my nerves. and i seem to be in the minority in that sense.

I think this band makes some of the shittiest music imaginable.

I took A Blessing off my iPod. My problem with it is the fact it sounds like neutered Stones, and that they were trying to make a hit.

Yeah, his DBT material was always the highlight of any given album.

Which is all the more perplexing when I consider that I just do not care for his two solo albums. They are fine, but they just are not up to par with what he was writing with the DBT'S.

Heck Patteron's record from this year just slays Isbell's.

Isbell made some great music while with the Truckers, but I think his solo career has shown he does much better working with bullshit detectors. I think Cooley and Patterson's best songs are just as good as Isbell's best.

^
this.

even though you're completely off the mark when it comes to blessing/curse. neutered blue oyster cult, maybe.

Or at the very least, he might work better when he feels he has to be working at a higher level, you can't slack as a songwriter when you are working with people like Cooley and Hood, because it just shows through.

"Bob", "Home Field Advantage", "Checkout Time in Vegas", and "You and Your Crystal Meth" all strike me as filler, they're nowhere near as good as the rest of the album.

uh, that's brighter than creation's dark. and in that case i'll agree with your assessment entirely.

blessing, though, is a pretty consistent and concise set of songs. a couple don't make as indelible impression as other dbt tracks, but out of 11 tracks, 4-5 of them are among my very favorite of theirs.

edit: i just noticed that you don't like homefield advantage. i can't co-sign on that. love, love, love that song.

Simple example-- what has Patterson written lately that is as good as "Dress Blues"? Hey, I love the truckers, but they fucking peaked with Isbell, and I'm still getting used to what they sound like now. For one thing, I'm still waiting for Hood to write another "Tornadoes".

Anyway-- thanks for the thread, Solace. You just helped me get Jess a new DVD, $5 t-shirt, sticker, and subscription to RS for only $30. The Truckers have a great website. No wonder Jess got me all their vinyl for my B-day.

Gee, what's with the throwing in free subscription thing, anyway? Poor, poor magazines. It's a shame too, because Taibi et al are really like, writing these days. Somethign RS almost forgot about.

I think I gotta go listen to some southern thing.

This was rumored for awhile, pretty stoked about it coming out. As for Patterson writing songs as good as Dress Blues...I dunno, I love Pollyanna and Back Of A Bible off of his solo record as much as Dress Blues, but I like pretty much anything the Truckers family has done, so there you go...

I'm just plain dumb when it comes to embedding so here's a link to Daddy Learned To Fly from You Tube. The song is Daddy Learned To Fly, not Daddy Learned to Fly from You Tube, that's a completely different song...

Sorry, my mistake! I've been constantly getting those two titles mixed up.

I actually still really like Blessing, it was a cool little departure.

thank fuck there's not 19 tracks with 5 complete fillers.

looking forward to this.

QFT

7 Tracks on Brighter that I don't particularly care for:

Perfect Timing
Lisa's Birthday
The Man I Shot
The Home Front
Checkout Time in Vegas
You and Your Crystal Meth
Monument Valley

Still was around #10 of my favorites of 2008.

Those are some of the best tracks.

That's the best Truckers song so I wouldn't hold out hope.

One thought considering the Isbell solo albums . . . . the Truckers always have their guitars tuned a whole step lower than "standard" tuning. It contributes to the unique tone of their songs and probably to some of the darkness. Anyway, I don't have either of the Isbell albums with me to check this, but I'm guessing he's writing in standard tuning in his solo stuff? Seems like it from what I can think of offhand. Aside from the obvious soul/pop leanings in his solo stuff that he didn't do with the Truckers, that might make a big difference in his solo writing.

For what it's worth, I probably dig his solo albums more than the recent DBT output either way.

I'll double check, but yeah-- I'm sure Isbell went standard. I do love the "darkness" of the Trucker tone, but sometimes it does wear out those minor chords.

I've had the same problem when I made my decade list, or when I try to recommend one album to a newbie that best represents them. I usually go with Decoration Day, but even that one isn't a front to back perfect album. It's frustrating that a band so good has yet to come up with their own Pleased to Meet Me or Let it Be. Cooley at his best is my favorite songwriter of the three, but he doesn't seem to be able to come up with the quantity of good songs as Patterson.

I can imagine a best of the 00s from them that would place them where they deserve to be - among the best American bands.

1. Ronnie and Neil
2. Zip City
3. Let There Be Rock
4. Life in the Factory
5. Shut Up and Get on the Plane
6. Greenville to Baton Rouge
7. Angels and Fuselage
8. Sink Hole
9. Marry Me
10. Outfit
11. Decoration Day
12. Where the Devil Don't Stay
13. Tornadoes
14. Lookout Mountain
15. Feb 14
16. The Righteous Path
17. A Ghost to Most

Decoration Day is a front to back perfect album

Granted we're talking about the difference between a 4.5 star and a 5 star album here, but I don't think the rockers on DD are their best. There's no Let There Be Rock or Where The Devil Don't Stay equivalents on DD, though Sink Hole and Marry Me come close.

Respectively, I completely fucking agree!

It's all about The Dirty South. Their best album.

Yes.

x2

While The Dirty South was a better tour (we saw the incredible Halloween show at the Metro), I still think the album, (even though it has Cooley's best,) has a couple stinkers, whereas DD is flawless. Frankly, even for all my love of Isbell, I think "Never Gonna Change" gets old after a while. I'll check the album for other stinkers.

x3

with Decoration Day #2 and Southern Rock Opera #3 for me

I was at that show too.

I think DD might be a touch bloated compared to TDS.

nm

southern rock opera, all the way.

We were at the front, on Isbell's side. They tried to give us their empty bottle of Jack, but security wouldnt' let 'em. Jess still has one of the playing cards from the Devil.

SO I looked at both albums again, and it might be a little full, but I would not say that DD is bloated. 15 solid songs - tha's an accomplishment. Whereas I think "Boys from Alabama", "Never Gonna Change", and even "Sands of Iwo Jima" wear after a while. (God I hated the falsetto the 1st time) Thing about "South" though-- everybody was writing in top form: Cooley's "Cottonseed" and "Daddy's Cup", and "Cadillac", (of which I lactually like the lyrics more than the music) Patterson's "Tornadoes", and "John Henry" and Goddamn Lonely" from Isbell. IMO, these are like the best songs they've ever written, except maybe Isbell already outshined the boys with "Decoration Day" and "Outfit". The truckers were really peaking as a band, and if you nitpick-- "South" only has 14 songs to DD's 15.

re: Sands of Iwo Jima... yeah, that strained falsetto on there kinda kills me too. otherwise great song.

it's not even so much the songwriting, is that i also prefer Isbell's vocals to Patterson & Cooley, dig the southern soul vibe going on in there.

Yeah, no offense to Patterson, who I really really dig, but I've often wondered if the reason they tune down so damn much is to help Hood hit the notes, or whatever. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but Isbell shines maybe even more in standard tuning.

Yes, Decoration Day is my fave, too, followed closely by The Dirty South and Southern Rock Opera.

OK, let's settle this once and for all, with the wonders of science!

Decoration Day Killers
-------------------------
The Deeper In
Sink Hole
Marry Me
My Sweet Annette
Outfit
Heathens
Something's Gotta Give
Do It Yourself
Decoration Day
Loaded Gun in the Closet

Decoration Day Filler
------------------------
Hell No I Ain't Happy
Sounds Better In The Song
Your Daddy Hates Me
Careless
When The Pin Hits The Shell

Dirty South Killers
---------------------
Where The Devil Don't Stay
Tornadoes
The Day John Henry Died
Putting People On the Moon
Carl Perkins' Cadillac
Cottonseed
The Buford Stick
Daddy's Cup
Lookout Mountain

Dirty South Filler
-------------------
The Sands Of Iwo Jima
Danko/Manuel
Boys From Alabama
Never Gonna Change
Goddamn Lonely Love

So there you have it. DD is one song better, it's a fact. Nothing else in their catalog comes close. The Southern Rock Opera has a major peaks and valleys. Who really wants to hear Patterson's George Wallace raps, I usually skip to Zip City. Blessing is the weakest in their catalog, and Brighter Than Creation's Dark has maybe 4 songs that are as good as the Killers listed above.

Sands of Iwo Jima is filler? No way..... One of my favorite lines in Truckers history is:

He never drove a new car though he could easily afford it
He'd just buy one for the family and take whatever no one wanted
He said a shiny car didn't mean much after all the things he'd seen
George A. never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima

Such an amazing moment. Just hits you really hard...when you see real shit like that you don't give a fuck about material items.

The melody in Danko/Manuel is too good for filler. I would say Boys from Alabama and Never Gonna Change are the weakest tracks. Goddamn Lonely Love is one of the best Trucker's songs.

you are INSANE.

those 2 songs are top 10 (maybe even top 5) DBT songs.

Hey to each his own, right? I'm going to defend redmedicne because his taste seems to be pretty good.

i guess... but damn

Solace, I got your back. I mean shit yeah-- Goddamn Lonely Love?! - The truckers only great love song was 18 wheels till isbell showed up. And I think Pin hits the Shell and Sounds better in the song are just as good as Gun in the closet. Hell those songs almost HAVE to go together, or the album don't feel right.

Other than that, and the mistake of picking Manuel, I do agree w/ the medicine man. Especially I said the same thing. DD is one song better. (It has one more song that DS)

I don't think any of those Dirty South songs are filler.

Oh, well. They're both great albums. These guys are seriously the best band.