Brighter than Creation’s Dark

Going to see the Drive By Truckers tonight in Newport, so probably best that I relate my thoughts on Brighter than Creation’s Dark today, rather than later…

I didn’t love BTCD on the first few listens, and even now I’m pretty sure that I prefer both Dirty South and Decoration Day. Still, the album has grown on me. Cooley has a larger presence than on previous albums, which tended to work out well; 3 Dimes Down, Self Destructive Zones, Bob, and especially Perfect Timing are all outstanding tunes. For Hood’s part, I think that Righteous Path is one of his very best tunes; Hood excels at understanding and relating a certain perspective on politics (even though he has some distance from it), and Righteous Path is probably better than even Puttin’ People on the Moon on that score. That Man I Shot is also pretty good, even if a bit didactic. Before listening to You and Your Crystal Meth I would have doubted that Hood could write a bad song about meth, but there you have it. The Opening Act grew on me over time. The new innovation is three songs by Shonna Tucker, none of which are particularly terrible or particularly good. I’ll be curious to see how she does live.

Inevitably, I have to wonder what might have been; what if Isbell had been able to make peace with the rest of the band for at least one more album? Take the best three or four songs from Sirens of the Ditch, add them to Brighter than Creation’s Dark, and cut the whole thing down to about 14 songs or so, and you have one hell of a great album. Of course, we live in an age where such a project is indeed possible on a personal basis; here’s one possibility:

Sirens of Creation’s Dark
The Righteous Path
Brand New Kind of Actress
3 Dimes Down
Down in a Hole
Shotgun Wedding
Perfect Timing
The Magician
That Man I Shot
Self-Destructive Zones
Grown
Bob
Opening Act
Goode’s Field Road