The only question about
American Band is whether the Holy Trilogy is now a Quartet.
AB is without a doubt DBT’s best album in years and one of their best, period.
First, some historical perspective: How many rock musicians have made an album that was anywhere close to their best work 20 years after their first album? I’m sure I’m missing some and y’all will be happy to let me know about it, but this is what I’ve come up with:
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
Buddy Guy
Bonnie Raitt
Peter Wolf (An odd case since his later work is his best)
Arguable:
Bruce Springsteen (
The Rising)
David Bowie (I don’t know his later stuff that well but many people who do say it measures up)
That’s all I got and that's some pretty serious company. It is also significant that every one of those performers is a solo artist (w/ the possible exception of Springsteen depending on how one characterizes his relationship w/ the E Streeters). The overwhelming majority of rock music “careers” especially rock band careers are over in well under 20 years and the creative portion of those careers is an even smaller window. Elvis had his big comeback only 12 years after releasing his first album and was unrecognizable and about to be dead after 20. The Beatles lasted 8 years. So the mere existence of an album this good by this band at this time is pretty damn rare and is a fantastic achievement whatever the details. Mad Respect.
This is a band out to make a
statement about the world and the band’s place in it starting with the album title and cover. It ain’t bragging if you can back it up and with
American Band DBT stakes its claim to being THE American band making the best, most authentic, most real, most important American music. And this album is about nothing if it’s not about America.
Hood and Cooley are at the top of their respective games throughout the album. The rhymes, wordplay, insight, depth and breadth of the writing make American Band what it is. Cooley's phrasing remains a marvel and Patterson is singing better than ever (though I'm not sure what to make of that vocal hiccup on “sitting” in “What It Means”). Both sing with great passion; these songs obviously matter to them.
One can't talk about
AB without talking about its political bent. Hood and Cooley take on a remarkable breadth of difficult, complex topics and get to the heart of each in trenchant and powerful ways. The unifying theme that courses through these songs is inevitably the eternal “American dilemma” of race. Patterson and Cooley make their way through that particularly difficult and sensitive minefield with rare precision and understanding, their eyes always on the prize. From Cooley’s knowing “like in mind and like in skin” to Hood’s defiant “I guess that means that you ain’t black,” the message is “we know who you are, we know what you’re really up to and we’ve had enough.”
Patterson and Cooley have often addressed similar subjects in different ways that come together as a coherent whole and this dynamic is on full display on
AB. The ties that bind, say, “Surrender Under Protest” and “Darkened Flags” or “What It Means” and “Once They Banned Imagine” seem clear. For two writers working separately to create such thematic consistency over such a challenging range of topics is itself an achievement and reinforces their messages in a compelling way. Couplets and verses leap out at the listener and virtually demand repeated listening. Of many examples, here’s one favorite:
And for six long generations it’s been told
that among the fallen was tradition
that tradition was the mission
that the wrongness of the sin was not the goal
Does the color really matter
On the face you blame for failure
On the shaming for a battle’s losing cause
If the victims and aggressors
Just remain each other’s others
And the instigators never fight their own
I had an English professor whose mantra was that literature is “news that stays news” and that's
AB's ultimate triumph: It is very much of the moment but it transcends the moment. Only time will tell whether it has the timelessness required of truly great works, but I think these songs have staying power. Most of the songs have a “big picture” point of view and widely applicable insights that extend their reach beyond today’s headlines. “Surrender Under Protest” and “Darkened Flags” are inspired by specific events, but they reach back into history and forward to what’s next or what might be and are not constrained by the literalness of the facts. While “What It Means,” the most topical song on the album, addresses today’s hot topic, it's one that unfortunately has been with us for a long time and that is not going away any time soon. Patterson then takes us beyond those specific concerns to capture very eloquently the foolishness, cynicism and hypocrisy with which we as a society think about issues and the ways in which we talk past each other. Check out this summary of the duality of the American condition: “we're living in an age where limitations are forgotten, the outer edges move and dazzle us but the core is something rotten”
DBT's proud history is evident as characters from previous songs make appearances throughout, which adds to the feeling that this album is a kind of culmination. The soldier stuck in the classroom in “Guns of Umpqua” could be the guy from “That Man I Shot.” The woman in “Filthy & Fried” could be the grandchild of the parents in “Primer Coat” and that family is still coming to grips with the passage of time and generations. The guys in “Ramon Casiano” who'd rather fight than win are the same guys who respond to whittled down bumper sticker sentiments in “Made Up English Oceans.”
“Filthy & Fried” continues Cooley’s string of insightful songs about strong women. If this goes on much longer, his macho rock star shtick is going to be seriously undercut. But even as he describes “kids these days,” his take is wonderfully nuanced and leaves plenty of room for ambiguity and questions. Classic Cooley.
If DBT is the American band, then “Ever South” is the American song. Walt freakin’ Whitman for the 21st century. The genius of the song is that by being so specific it somehow becomes general. I’m nothing close to Scotch-Irish or southern and my family is a relative newcomer compared to Patterson’s ancestors. But this song is my story just like it’s his and just like it’s yours (except for the last verse; that’s a southern devil thing
). A nation of immigrants indeed.
The tension between the pleasant melody and dark substance of “Guns of Umpqua” is exquisite and the lyrics are like a stiletto sliding in faster than you can wipe that grin off your face. “Once They Banned Imagine” is similar in that a melody that whispers lost love or similar personal pain is actually a scathing indictment of how politicians cynically twisted the collective emotional response to 9/11 into something so mean and ugly that even wild dogs would disregard the bones.
“Imagine” reveals its secrets and complexities slowly over repeated listens. Cooley’s reach in this one and the way he connects various strains of American political foibles are astonishing and his anger is palpable. Among other topics, he touches on the failure of generational responsibility; McCarthyism in its original and more recent forms; the need to recognize the fundamentally unchanging nature of evil no matter what form it takes and to stomp on it when it raises its ugly head; the ways in which a traumatized well-meaning public can be manipulated by lying sacks of shit; cynical politicians unmoored from morality and everything but self-interest; and racism. Extra points to Cooley for his disdain for the Patriot Act. Does the intro to “Imagine” evoke “Let It Be” for anyone else? I hope so, because if that connection is really there, that would be insanely clever and satisfying.
Taken together, “Umpqua” and “When the Sun Don’t Shine” are notable for how quickly Patterson has adapted to his new surroundings and absorbed the local gestalt. How does a guy live in a place for a few short months and capture it so well twice in two totally different ways?
The rumor, which I consider more reliable than usual, is that “Kinky Hypocrite” was cut in one take. I hope it’s true because that adds some cosmically karmic rock n roll band aura to the “back to meaningfulness” themes of the album. Others have already noted the “greasy” or Stones/Faces feel of the song. Lyrically, I give the song a few demerits for attacking yet again an overly easy target, but those demerits are easily erased and surpassed by the gold stars I give Cooley for doing it so very, very well. The line about “something lacy ‘tween your business and your poly wool blend” alone is worth the price of admission.
Speaking of the band’s cosmic talents, let’s take a moment to recognize the music and the music makers whose contributions to the album should not be overlooked. There aren’t a lot of solos, jams or musical flash on these tracks. There are fills, trills, riffs and “moments” galore that make your ears perk up, but they're all in service of the songs. No other version of the band could have made this album and for that reason alone it’s as much Brad’s, Jay’s and Matt’s album as it is the singer/writers’. These guys are seriously great players. I suspect that knowing that the band will make happen whatever needs to happen behind them gives Patterson and Cooley a little extra confidence and freedom in their writing and singing. MAB made some excellent observations about the quality and professionalism of the band:
“
... the feel of the record [is] stunningly good. This is officially [DBT's] longest lasting lineup and it shows. Brad, Matt, and Jay are an amazing rhythm section. Tasteful is the best descriptor--it's not the notes, it's the spaces between the notes that's the true test of a great band/musician and they have taste in abundance. I read a quote from Paul McCartney in his latest Rolling Stone interview that I think perfectly describes DBT at this moment ... 'We keep getting better because we keep getting simpler.' Damn right. A 20 year career and they keep growing and getting better. Just wow.”
And a special tip of the cap to whoever thought of adding handclaps to “What It Means.” That is a non-obvious touch that lifts the song that extra little bit.
The album isn't perfect. “What It Means” seems like the obvious album closer and I’m not sure why it’s placed where it is. “When the Sun Don’t Shine” isn’t a song about depression but it kind of sounds like it is. When combined with “Baggage” which is a song about depression (and Robin Williams), it can feel like one song too many on the subject. To these ears “Imagine” and “Baggage” would both benefit by being separated in the running order and the second half of the album could use another punchier sounding track, especially one from Patterson.
But that's just nitpicking. With
American Band, the Drive By Truckers aimed for the moon and reach the stars. Their righteous anger and the clarity of their moral vision are a much-needed tonic for the times and fills a void abdicated by alleged leaders of every stripe including a music industry that has abandoned any pretense of social relevance (some folkies and rappers excepted). Statement made. Let’s hope somebody other than us is listening.
