There’s no such thing as an album that’s a perfect 10 – but there those that are one notch below. The 9’s is an occasional series which explores some of those records.
Released: 2004
About
Between 2003’s Decoration Day and The Dirty South the Drive-By Truckers had gained a new bass player in Shonna Tucker, the then wife of Jason Isbell, who’d joined in 2001. It was to the latter’s immense credit that his four contributions represented some of the best material on a record that would redefine Southern Rock, alt Country and half a dozen other made up genres, one that was brim full of masterful storytelling and high octane, visceral musicianship.
Why a 9?
Making the lines between myth, reality, place and time dissolve in song is an art few truly master. Isbell joined Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood on a canvas which was starkly ambitious, a swampy hinterland where conscience and vengeance were merely opposite sides of the same coin. Bookended by two instant classics in Where The Devil Don’t Stay and Goddamn Lonely Love, it’s truths were universal, the characters often powerless against fate. The grand tableau was the American South itself—a vast, deliberately impenetrable inner world whose exegesis unfolded as something powerful, morally ambivalent, and darkly rich.
Why Is It Important?
Some opinions would reckon that offering a foundational showcase for Isbell’s talent would be reason enough, but The Dirty South was far more than just a nursery. By no means was it a traditional country album either, but it’s songcraft’s unforgiving lens had a humanity which ran through the movement’s grittiest and most evocative chapters. More than twenty years on it still retains an air of dignity, power and fascination that wisely few have since tried to emulate.
You Should Listen To
Where The Devil Don’t Stay, Puttin’ People on The Moon, Daddy’s Cup, Lookout Mountain, Goddamn Lonely Love
The Voice Of Unreason 