DBT - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Cool. I've heard a few of the songs (some in live versions), but I probably won't get around to hearing the whole thing until after next weekend. The response has been a little mixed, but the consensus is that it's at least better than A Blessing and A Curse.

Of course, seeing how people on the DBT message board tend to rank their albums, I find I'm in the minority in not having Pizza Deliverance in my top two and in liking Isbell's songs at least as much, if not more than, Cooley's and Hood's.

I picked up The Dirty South on a whim last week and haven't stopped listening to it since. I just grabbed this new one off itunes this morning. I'll be happy if it's even close to the level of quality of TDS.

Do you have Decoration Day? It's an even stronger record than The Dirty South. I'm thinking about road tripping up to Nashville in March to see them.

I'm grabbing it now based on your recommendation. Did you go to any of the athens shows last weekend?

You guys sound kinda down on A Blessing and a Curse, which is my maybe favorite, or maybe second favorite after The Dirty South. How is Pizza Deliverance? I downloaded Gangstabilly last week, and thought it was pretty lousy...is there a big jump in quality from Gangstabilly to Pizza Deliverance?

I'm thinking of hitting either the Nashville or Asheville shows in March. Right now we're leaning toward Asheville because it'll give me more time to recover from my chicago & Nashville trips I've got planned in Feb.

No, I couldn't make it. Sometimes the Athens shows get packed with frat guys, so I don't mind traveling a little to see them.

They're really just a completely different band on those two records than the one they became on Southern Rock Opera and beyond. I do think Pizza Deliverance is a big step forward from Gangstabilly, and it's well worth your time. I have a big soft spot for those two records, but they really do sound like a different group.

A Blessing and a Curse has some great songs, but I think it's by far their most uneven record. There's a great interview with Patterson up on Pitchfork right now where he talks about some of what the band was going through then and where they are now.

I thought Patterson's interview was interesting, but left the Isbell issue mostly open. I'm sure there are interviews elsewhere that discuss what happened, but I have yet to read them

Regardless, just bought the album. $8.99 on amazon.

See, when I look at these albums, and look at which songs I would count as my all-time favorites from the band, Blessing has the great threefer of "Gravity's Gone", "Easy on Yourself" and "Aftermath USA", then it has "Daylight" and "Space City". And the last two songs are pretty great too (its biggest weakness, to me, is that it kicks off with a not-very-great song). Then I look at Decoration Day, and the only ones I'd pick out are "Marry Me," "Outfit" and maybe "Sinkhole." Not that there aren't some other songs I love, but those are the ones I'd pick as favorites from the band's repetoire. I guess it's all personal taste, though.

$9.99 on iTunes. 19 tracks -- wow.

Yeah, well, there's no DRM on amazon. Jerk.

I still have some Christmas cash on iTunes, so there. Don't come in here with your fancy acronyms and pretend like you know me, LD.

The intro to the Pitchfork article is the first time I've seen it explicitly stated that Isbell was fighting with Hood and Cooley on the road, actually.

I read another interview with Hood recently (I'd link it if I could remember where it was) in which he put a bunch of the blame on New West. BTCD is the last album they're under contract to make for them, and he just lets loose on what a crappy company they've been to work with - they didn't want to release The Dirty South, since it came out so quickly after Decoration Day; they delayed the release of Ibell's Sirens of the Ditch continually due to DBT's release schedule; they've prevented Hood from releasing his second solo album, etc. He says some of the intra-band stress came from Isbell not being able to do release Sirens and do his solo thing.

I agree with misfit about the first two albums. They're just completely different. Pizza Deliverance is the better of the two, but they're both a lot jokier and consciously rednecky than anything they've released post-Southern Rock Opera. Some of the hardcore fans (generally the same people who think Cooley's a god and Isbell dragged the band down) put them above the new stuff, but I just don't get that. They have some absolutely great songs, but even those tend to sound better live with the new lineup.

A Blessing and A Curse is probably my least favorite of the post-SRO albums, and I still listen to it more than either of the first two. I rank The Dirty South and Decoration Day as nearly perfect albums - I don't really prefer one over the other.

Couldn't agree more. Misfit recommended them to me a while back when I asked his advice about where to start with DBT, and those two records actually improved my quality of life. Amazing stuff.

Credit where credit's due, Devin actually turned me on to DBT. He had a blog post back when devincf.com was still in existence that talked about "Goddamn Lonely Love" that made it sound like something I HAD to check out. I went out, bought The Dirty South and that was it...I was sold.

Hearing Patterson talk about the band's financial woes sort of blew me away. They play to packed houses constantly. Sure, it's not the million-dollars/night that the Rolling Stones might earn, but to sell out the 9:30 Club in D.C. has to be a significant chunk of change. I'm just surprised to hear that.

As far as New West is concerned, they owe me for ruining The Old 97's.

I like Cooley's songs the best, but I could see why someone would prefer Isbell. He's the least schticky of the three, and that gives his songs a little more gravity. I like the schtick.

As for BTCD: It's a more confident album than they've made before, like they don't have as much to prove. Right now I don't like it as much as the last 4, but I'll bet I change my mind somewhere around the 10th listen. It's that kind of album.

I can't overstate how much I love "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife."

Really digging "Lisa's Birthday" and "A Ghost to Most." And "Purgatory Line," and "The Opening Act," and the jam on "Homefield Advantage." Got tickets to see them on the 12th!

Dang -- there doesn't appear to be a DC date on their tour right now. Hopefully they'll add one.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to see Isbell next month. LD, you going?

Pretty great interview with Hood and Cooley over at PopMatters.

I'm really digging Decoration Day after your recommendation. I'm not really a southern guy in any way, but damned if Outfit isn't just a great song.

Re: BTCD... I'm really liking parts of it, mostly Patterson's songs. Some of Cooley's stuff on this album isn't doing much for me, though, specifically Bob, Lisa's Birthday and Perfect Timing but then I love others like Self Destructive Zones and Three Dimes Down. Shonna's songs I can kind of take or leave, except Huston which I can't stand.

Despite my complaints I really like it for the most part. I've heard people complain that it's too long, but I know for every song I don't like there are others people who love those songs, so the length isn't bothering me. I don't mind skipping songs here or there.

Excellent, glad you're liking DD. I'm still settling into the new one, but I love that the sheer length of it let's them cover so much ground. I think my favorite Cooley song is either Self Destructive Zones or A Ghost to Most, and Patterson's strongest showing is on The Righteous Path. I'm cool with Shonna's songs, especially The Purgatory Line. Like I say, I'm still absorbing it and trying to get it placed in their body of work. Listening to it now, actually.

Semi-related, I really want to catch Isbell on his current tour. I think I may brave the Athens crowd to see him at the end of feb. I picked up Sirens of the Ditch over the weekend and have been listening to it a bit.

Cool. I saw him right around the time the album came out, and he put on a great show, including a killer cover of "Jailbreak." Apparently they just got all their gear ripped off in San Francisco, and the drummer quit as a result. Last I read, they'd gotten their stuff replaced and the drummer from Son Volt is sitting in.

It took me a little while to get into Sirens. Whereas I was immediately hooked by the Truckers' stuff, that album just didn't grab me. But I stuck with it, and over time it really grew on me to the point that it's now one of my favorites. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in a few weeks. He's playing with Will Hoge, with whom I'm unfamiliar. Misfit, you know anything about him?

Just a little. He had a song called "I'll Be Your Fool Again" that got some airplay around here. It was okay, basic bar rock. I think he's pretty big on the college circuit.

Cool, that's about what I figured. Sounds solid enough for an opening act.

It's a long album, but somehow the songs fit together so well that it doesn't seem that long. I'm finding it much easier to get through than, say, Physical Graffiti.

"Ghost to Most" is a masterpiece, but I really, really love "Lisa's Birthday." It's such a perfect country song. I also love that line in "3 Dimes Down," "while chicken wing puke eats the candy apple red off the Corvette." Brilliant!

Man, this album just clicked for me. No idea what changed, but now I'm loving it. I'm 5 songs in, and wouldn't change a note so far.

Fun fact: Hoge's drummer, Jeff Crow, is a childhood friend of mine. I saw them open for Big Head Todd a year or so ago. Will's summary is pretty accurate. Hoge seems to be a nice guy. They were very excited to play at The Fox... as anyone should be.

I finally caught all the words of this line last night on my way to a Superbowl party. Genius, indeed.

I've had the CD in the car for a week now, and I'm enjoying it. A few songs are REALLY country, which doesn't bother me, but I'll bet it could turn off a few ROCK SHOW fans. I don't think it'll be my favorite DBTs album by any means, but it's still better than most everything else out there.

The first part of the album's working for me (except for "I'm Sorry, Huston"), but the damn thing's so massive that I've only gotten to the last few songs a couple times. The lack of fast rockers ("The Day John Henry Died," "Easy On Yourself," "Get on the Plane," "Sinkhole," etc.) hurts it a little bit, but Cooley's mid-tempo stuff, "Homefield Advantage" (about as close as the album gets to Isbell's style), and "The Righteous Path" help fill the gap a little. Cooley and Hood are also writing some of their best lyrics to date, Hood's stopped trying to hit the falsetto that never quite worked on the last two albums, and "Purgatory Line" shows that Tucker can write and sing a nice ballad.

I can't see ever liking it more than Decoration Day, The Dirty South, and Southern Rock Opera, but it's nothing to complain about.

"Home Field Advantage" is the one song I sorta dislike, just because it reminds me of Melissa Ethridge or something. But it makes up for it by providing the platform for a great instrumental jam at the end--really looking forward to seeing them do this one live.

Lyrically, it's probably the weakest song on the album ("you threw a doozy at me" is a pretty bad line, but the real sin is in repeating it - ugh), but it's one of the only rockers, so I like it, anyway. I still give Tucker tons of credit for contributing - when they're on their game, Hood and Cooley are two of the best lyricists out there, and she's partly filling the shoes of her ex-husband, another amazing lyricist. That's got to be pretty intimidating for an untested songwriter.

Here's a deal on a bundle of the vinyl reissues of the back catalogue:

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/81890

Nerd-talk time: BTCD relates to previous DBT albums as NCFOM relates to previous Coen Bros. movies. The songs/images don't hit you over the head with their greatness as in previous work, but burrow into your brain to gestate over time. y/n?

Well done, sir. I like it. I've used "expansive" to describe both BTCD and NCFOM, and I think you could definitely make some parallels there.

Hm. I think of NCFOM as pretty immediate, actually. Fargo is more subtle, in some ways. I guess I find the Coens and DBT hard to compare, since my favorite DBT albums (SRO, DD, TDS) are straightforward throughout, while, of the good Coen movies, even the most overt ones (Raising Arizona, Lebowski, O Brother) are kind of off-kilter, a little artsy.

I'd argue that there's are some subtle, off kilter things happening on those records, too. An opening, quiet track about consensual incest in a northern state, a song told from the point of view of the bad guy from Walking Tall, etc. Even on their more straightforward records, there's usually just enough of a twist going on.

I think you're right on NCFOM being immediate, but it's not flashy, another trait I think it has in common with BTCD.

Neener.

I hate that Dave hasn't responded yet, because that probably means his response is going to be incredibly well reasoned and thought out and will blow what I just wrote out of the water.

I do find it pretty impressive that they've had the confidence to start at least 3 of their records off with balads.

Maybe this is just me, but I didn't leave NCFOM wowed by the images in the way I have previous Coen movies, but as I'm watching all the Oscar season ads, I'm realizing just how many amazing images there are in that film. I guess I'd say that songs like, oh, "Where the Devil Don't Stay" or "Let There Be Rock" feel like the equivalent of the pampers chase or the bowling bowl dream or the klansman dance, you know? And BTCD doesn't really have those songs. Well, maybe a couple, but mostly it has songs that you realize on the 10th listen how beautiful they are.

You neenered me!!! What the hell!?!

I can see where you're coming from on a lyrical basis. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of the music. DBT are very rooted in the rock and country tradition. There's nothing particularly quirky or artsy about how they sound. Not that NCFOM is particularly quirky, either (which might align it more with the DBT catalog than anything else the Coens have done), but a number of the other Coen movies are. They're somewhat rooted in film traditions, but they seem more likely to break with them than DBT seem inclined to do with their influences. The music equivalent of the dream sequences of The Big Lebowski or the fragmented plot of Fargo would be DBT throwing in a Radiohead-esque electronic piece or a 7/8 bridge.

For the sake of playing the game, though, either Pizza Deliverance or Gangstabilly would have to be their Raising Arizona. They're both funnier than most of the others, and, at their best, they manage to balance hick humor and occasional emotional resonance.

Incidentally, DBT fans should check out the LD's Week of Isbell posts on his blog. Good stuff.

I see what you mean, and I like the analogy of the earlier records with Raising Arizona. Maybe "Killers and Stars" is Hood's Blood Simple? I may be grasping at straws on that one.

No, I think that makes sense. It's smaller in scope, lower budget. I mean, this is all grasping at straws, really. Maybe Southern Rock Opera is their Barton Fink? They're both epics that concern the creative process that involve big, showy, physically destructive consequences (the plain crash vs. the hotel fire).

So, we're all agreed then?

Now what do we do?

When NCFOM hits DVD, I'm going to mute the sound and play BTCD over it, "Dark Side of Oz" style. That's the only way we can settle this for sure.