Truckers lay down the blessing

The Drive-By Truckers might be the last true rock 'n' roll band. They still believe in the spirit and possibilities of a dying art, and do so without irony or excuses. A generation ago, they likely would have been huge rock stars, but in today's apathetic and splintered rock scene, they are just another great band that you'll never hear on the radio. \nA Blessing and a Curse, the band's seventh album, is essentially everything you'd come to expect from a DBT album, with its loud guitars, occasional twang and tales of the hard life. What separates A Blessing from previous DBT records is that it is the most focused and cohesive record the band has done to date. After spending the last half-decade making long-winded, albeit great, concept albums, the Truckers have finally figured out how to pare down their ideas. A Blessing is more trim and user-friendly, without sacrificing the grit that makes band so appealing.\nThe Truckers' biggest strength is their trio of singer/songwriter/guitarists -- Mike Cooley, Jason Isbell and Patterson Hood. Each has their own distinctive voice and style without sacrificing the group's dynamic. \nCooley, with his booming baritone, is the most old-fashioned of the three, contributing the country-tinged "Gravity's Gone" and the front-porch ballad "Space City." \nIsbell counters with "Easy on Yourself," which could've been taken straight from classic rock radio circa 1975, and the delicate pop of "Daylight."\nThe album's best moments though, belong to Hood, the best and most prolific of the three songwriters. With his gravel-voice and everyman delivery, he has a genuine believability to him. You get the feeling that if Bruce Springsteen were from the south, he'd be Patterson Hood. Whether it's the Replacements style rock of "Feb 14," or the Memphis soul of "Goodbye," Hood keeps A Blessing fresh and interesting. The Stones/Faces rip "Aftermath USA" is the album's most danceable tune. Who knew that "crystal meth in the bathtub, and blood splattered in the sink" could be so much fun?\nThe Truckers have always been too smart to pigeonhole themselves as southern rock. A Blessing, with its more varied themes and musical influences, moves further away from the southern mythology. You can picture most of these songs taking place anywhere there are broken hearts and bad luck. But even with all of the struggle that they write about, there is still hope for the future. On the album's closer, "A World of Hurt," Hood, lamenting a relationship on the rocks, says, "It ain't to late to take a deep breath, and throw yourself into it with everything you got. It's great to be alive," proving that a world of hurt is still a world worth living in.