Welcome to Club XIII

[Tequila Cowboy]

I'm finding myself wanting to like "Maria's Awful Disclosures" a lot more than I do. It's weirdly non-melodic (a-melodic?) and the singing sometimes feels like it goes to a different song than Cooley is singing. Maybe it will grow on me.

I've tried to interpret this post for the last day or so. Either I'm not hearing what you do, or I don't understand what you mean. One of the things I find the most fascinating with Cooley’s songs is that he often zigs when you’d expect him to zag. I think this song has one of Cooley’s most interesting melodies. The sing-song up and down runs contrary to what you would call a natural melody line but I would not call that lack of melody. I also love, in typical Cooley fashion, that he fits words in lines that shouldn't fit yet he makes them anyway. All that said, I like the song a lot. It's not top tier Cooley like Every Single Storied Flameout is, but it's pretty great in it's own right and like Ramon Casiano, it is a weird history lesson at the same time.

I meant just what I said. The verses and the bridge have almost no melody. The earworm is the "Maria's Awful Disclosures" line.

The song is good, but might be my least favorite on the record (which is almost never true of Cooley songs)

I hear a clear melody in the verses. He's pretty much singing scales, descending then ascending at the end of each line. Interestingly, it might be my least favorite too, but only because the record is so strong.

[Iowan]

I didn’t like Maria on my first listen, but I’ve found the verse to be subversively catchy. It pops in my head a lot.

It’s not anywhere near Cooley’s best song, but I dig it. ESSF being it’s only comparison point doesn’t do it any favors.

[Iowan]

Patterson isn’t always a big melody guy, but there’s a very sneaky hook here.

One of the mysteries of this album to me is that there aren't a whole lot of traditional hooks but damn there are a lot of ear worms coming from a lot of different songs. I've got parts of one or another of these songs in my head almost all day long.

In complete agreement here.

[Clams]

Ghost-written pornography
Tailored to readers in need of a righteous excuse to indulge

What nobody saw is anybody's call

Maria's Awful Disclosures is a winner for these two lines alone. And stuff like melody lines, verses and bridges means nothing to me. If the song sounds good, it's good. Nothing else really matters in the end.

[Zip City]

And stuff like melody lines, verses and bridges means nothing to me.

Your love of Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile checks out with this.

[cortez the killer]

Punk Clam

[Clams]

And stuff like melody lines, verses and bridges means nothing to me.

Your love of Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile checks out with this.

If you listen to a song and say yourself "this sounds really good and the lyrics are great, but damn, the melody line is off and there's no bridge" then I'd say you're listening wrong.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Honestly, Zip, I had a really hard time with what you were calling melody. So I looked up the dictionary definition.

1 : pleasing arrangement of sounds. 2 : a series of musical notes or tones arranged in a definite pattern of pitch and rhythm. 3 : the main part in a musical composition.

To me, the first definition is a "hook" and the second definition is what I think of as melody. That's clearly on me, though as either is correct. "Maria" has definite pattern of pitch and rhythm, so I would say it has an easily identifiable melody. With your definition seventy-five percent of Lou Reed songs have no melody, and, in your response to Clams, you mention Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett both of whose work I love as well. Songs don't have to have hooks for me to like them. In fact, while I like some songs with big hooks, I tend to distrust them initially.

[Willie Shotwell]

I'm extremely late to the discussion of the album, but wanted to add this: One of the few redeeming qualities of my ex-wife is that she did a great impression of the lead singer of Sidewinder. I got quite a kick out of the Sidewinder reference in W2CXIII.

[beantownbubba]

I'm extremely late to the discussion of the album, but wanted to add this: One of the few redeeming qualities of my ex-wife is that she did a great impression of the lead singer of Sidewinder. I got quite a kick out of the Sidewinder reference in W2CXIII.

So I guess it's true. We really will let just about anybody post here.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I'm extremely late to the discussion of the album, but wanted to add this: One of the few redeeming qualities of my ex-wife is that she did a great impression of the lead singer of Sidewinder. I got quite a kick out of the Sidewinder reference in W2CXIII.

I learned of it when I posted an old Atlanta Rhythm Section ticket that listed Sidewinder as the opener in what they call "the big" DBT's group on FB and Patterson chimed in to say they made an appearance in a new DBT's song. At that point, I'd yet to hear "Welcome 2 Club XIII" so I wasn't sure which new song he was referring to. I quickly pulled up an old publicity photo of them of the lineup that included Robert Kearns and Audley Freed but Patterson said that was not the version of the band Adam's House Cat had opened for. As you may or may not be aware, they had a revolving lineup that has included somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 members over the years. They also made it to the finals on Star Search (where they had greatly altered their sound) only to be beat out by Sawyer Brown. Then, there's the whole suing the Sidewinders from Arizona thing. Sidewinder continues to perform in NC to this day. I figured if they were even going to turn up in a song it makes as much sense as anything for it to be a DBT's one. Yet another page ripped from the days of my youth.

[305 Engine]

On first listen it made me think immediately of this one. Either way they've gone quite 1966 on that track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK5G8fPmWeA

[Clams]

Got the hang
All you're missing, Alabama claw
Above the bangs and lashes, and we saw it all
Reaching for the stars but only catching dust

What is "Alabama claw"?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

What is "Alabama claw"?

The poofy, spiky hairstyle worn by the spandexed women that attended shows at Club XIII. A few of them can be seen in Wes' artwork inside the album. I believe Patterson mentions it in the liner notes.

[Swamp]

I'm extremely late to the discussion of the album, but wanted to add this: One of the few redeeming qualities of my ex-wife is that she did a great impression of the lead singer of Sidewinder. I got quite a kick out of the Sidewinder reference in W2CXIII.

So I guess it's true. We really will let just about anybody post here.

Not to mention he's from freakville!

[RolanK]

Those fuckin' noises that trickle in and out.... they sound like swap creatures or massive insects. Love the the tape effect Barbe slaps on the end of the track with that guitar cutting in and out and then fading into "Maria's Awful Disclosure."

I belive that is Jay's guitar through one of these things

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Stephen Deusner's first piece for Spin.

https://www.spin.com/2022/06/drive-by-t ... club-xiii/

[cortez the killer]

Those fuckin' noises that trickle in and out.... they sound like swap creatures or massive insects. Love the the tape effect Barbe slaps on the end of the track with that guitar cutting in and out and then fading into "Maria's Awful Disclosure."

I belive that is Jay's guitar through one of these things

Redneck Shoegaze

* Also it was supposed to be swamp, not swap.

[Zip City]

Sad to see that Wilder Days hasn’t been played since homecoming. Seems like it’s already been shelved.

[brettac1]

Sad to see that Wilder Days hasn’t been played since homecoming. Seems like it’s already been shelved.

That's too bad. One of the standouts for me.

[RolanK]

* Also it was supposed to be swamp, not swap.

Yeah, I figured after my Google search for “Swap Monster Sounds” took me to strange places.

[beantownbubba]

LOL. My Welcome to Club XIII order shipped today. The notice was neither apologetic nor ironic.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

New interview with Cooley that was conducted prior to the European tour.

https://louderthanwar.com/interview-dri ... 5E7vVPQSuM

[gepman]

LOL. My Welcome to Club XIII order shipped today. The notice was neither apologetic nor ironic.

Same for a buddy of mine... (From ATO). Clown show...

[Flea]

LOL. My Welcome to Club XIII order shipped today. The notice was neither apologetic nor ironic.

Same for a buddy of mine... (From ATO). Clown show...

Mine as well.

[beantownbubba]

Right now "Forged in Hell and Heaven Sent" is #1 w/ a bullet for me. What a beautifully crafted and sung song.

I think what makes the album work as a concept album is that it doesn't scream CONCEPT ALBUM in flashing neon. It just is and that's the way it should be.

As wel all know, Patterson has taken several cracks at heroin/addiction/friendship. "We will never wake you up" is the most successful imho. That it is the least overtly angry may have something to do w/ that, I'm not sure. But I'm guessing that Patterson has at least one or two more in him and I'll be listening to what he has to say. Hopefully he'll be revisiting old wounds on not reacting to new "inspiration."

As always I'm never sure what part of the album represents "production" but even so, I feel like the production is pretty close to perfect on this album. Every note, every sound, every harmony is just what it should be.

I feel like the album is one rocker, probably between "Billy Ringo" and "Wilder Days" short of all time greatness but it may be there anyway, time will tell.

[Rocky]

I've been waiting for a LONG time for my favorite rock magazine to do a DBT article. It's in this month's MOJO!

Too punk for Muscle Shoals. Too country for most other places. Too drunk, too often. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS have forged on through lifestyle meltdowns, line-up turmoil and (at least) three divorces to deliver their uniquely lyrical blend of Southern Americana. Their fuel? Tough love for their homeland and cast-iron belief in their songs. "We had to be all in"

[gepman]

LOL. My Welcome to Club XIII order shipped today. The notice was neither apologetic nor ironic.

Same for a buddy of mine... (From ATO). Clown show...

He got it YESTERDAY... SMH...

[Clams]

I don't know if it is intentional or not but on the second "as we drove on past the near-flaming demise" the guitar explodes and sounds like a semi truck's horn. When I first heard it with headphones and just stoned enough it startled me.

Ever since I read this post I hear that screaming truck horn every time I listen

[glennrwordman]

You know where this is going, right, these categories? DBT Jeopardy at Homecoming 2023!

Cooley's Women
Patterson's Preachers
Guts and Glorified
People Who Died
History
Geography

Oh, it's been a long week.

Outstanding! We’re doing this for the fundraiser next year!!

Here we go:
Cooley's Women:
Trixie is the name of the working girl in this Cooley song. (What is "Birthday Boy"--all answers in the form of a ?)
Her "awful disclosures" were a hoax that created anti-Catholic panic in the 1830s. (Who is Maria)
His girl's mama helped the protagonist in this song "remember what he brought that bottle home for". (What is Love Like This)
"For granted" are the big words used by a simple country girl in this song. (What is Zip City)
A pregnancy is the reason to get this girl out of town in this classic Cooley song. (What is Marry Me)
The woman in this Cooley song found herself. (What is Sounds Better in the Song)
Once her husband went to work in this Cooley song, our protagonist makes a whole pot of coffee. (What is Loaded Gun in the Closet)
The main character's mama phones up these officials in "Where The Devil Don't Stay". (Who are 'The Law', or "What is 'The Law', or "the police")

I can make this my first HHC '23 assignment, if you like. (And make some more difficult in all the above categories; this just the basic idea).