Drive-by Truckers – The Fine Print

The Drive-by Truckers have always been a band particularly cinematic in their focus. They’ve referenced John Ford in their songs, and they shoot their own Southern rock epics in sweeping, colorful Panavision. They’re also very prolific. It makes sense, then, that eventually, to bide some time between one opus and the next, they’d release a batch of bonus material and deleted scenes.

That’s what The Fine Print is. Think of it as the second disc in a DVD set, the one with all the supplemental material that explains or enhances the feature film. It’s not a story in its own right, but the Truckers have been weaving a story throughout their entire career, and it’s been good enough that they’ve earned our interest in this material, left – until now — on the cutting room floor.

It doesn’t span their entire career — just their 2003-2008 period, a particularly fertile one for them — but it does span generations. Departed Trucker Jason Isbell is, thankfully, included in this collection, and Shonna Tucker gets a vocal spotlight on one song. The gang’s all here, but what about the songs? They’re about as good as a batch of supplemental material could be: the unifying, thematic arc of proper Truckers albums isn’t here, but, even at its weakest, the material serves as illuminating commentary on the Truckers narrative more broadly. And at its best, it leaves the lingering question of why it ended up on the cutting room floor at all.

There are songs highlighting the individual storytelling skills of the Truckers. “George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues” shows how well they can lock into a limber, country-rock groove, as well as how unpretentiously Patterson Hood can finesse country music iconography and extrapolate from it something universal. Isbell’s “When the Well Runs Dry,” likewise, points to a band capable of making broad strokes seem very subtle, its ominous shadows feeling very natural and unforced. The randy Christmas sex fantasia “Mrs. Claus’ Kimono,” meanwhile, is not exactly subtle, but it’s hilarious.

If there is anything like a narrative here, it’s in how it shows the band’s gradual lean in the direction of country music; hard rock is still very much present, particularly on the nasty, grill-rattling menace of “The Great Car Dealer War,” but “George Jones” is one of several songs with roots as much honky-tonk as metal. “Mama Bake a Pie” is also notable, an AM country radio castaway that’s golden.

There are commentaries on the band’s identity as a Southern rock entity, as well. Isbell’s “TVA” is a heartbreaking and vividly detailed portrait of rural Southern life that re-enforces their warts-and-all love with the dark and strange region they call their home, but a cover of Tom Petty’s “Rebels” is played without irony, an anthem of Southern pride and a celebration of history that carefully omits the warts.

But the best song is the collection’s other cover, a faithful take on “Like a Rolling Stone” that finds the band members alternating turns at the microphone. It’s fun not because their take on the song is anything special, but simply because it’s such a joy to hear them all together. And that might be the best way to consider the album on the whole: a collection of small treasures and stand-alone scenes. Nobody claims it’s as unified or as potent as a DBT album proper, but even if it doesn’t add to their story, it does make it just a little bit richer.

Tagged as: Athens, Country, hard rock

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