Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton |
The Drive-By Truckers are an unapologetically prolific band; Go-Go Boots is their 10th studio album since 1998, a count which does not include double-length records, live recordings or b-side collections. What is more impressive than the sheer amount of material the Truckers have released is the group’s consistency in meeting or exceeding their previous high-water marks, stringing together a collection of good-to-great albums. Go-Go Boots continues in this tradition, and although it is not as upbeat or as hook-filled as some of the Truckers’ best efforts, it is a lyrically intense, slow burning record that demands attention.
Patterson Hood and company are frequently and rightfully praised for their skilful storytelling, and Go-Go Boots is no exception. Whereas the 13 songs on 2010’s excellent The Big To-Do presented 13 vignettes that felt like a collection of short stories, Go-Go Boots can be listened to as a sustained narrative where characters and events are introduced and fleshed out over the course of the album. At the center of the story is a pair of go-go boots which are donned by a reverend’s mistress on the title track and spark a series of events involving hired thugs, revenge and murder. ‘Go-Go Boots’ works well as an individual song, telling a dark, engaging story over understated instrumentation. The song is significantly more effective, however, when considered as an introduction to a larger story weaved during the remainder of the album.
Although ‘The Fireplace Poker’ is the only song on the album that is a direct continuation of the narrative perspective introduced on ‘Go-Go Boots’ the characters and events detailed in several other songs have their place within the overarching tale. For example, the men that bassist Shonna Tucker sings to in ‘Dancin’ Ricky’ and ‘Where’s Eddie’ may well be the same thugs hired to do something awful on ‘Go-Go Boots.’ The songs provide detail into Ricky and Eddie’s lives that allow them to grow beyond simply being evil and greedy stock characters, the most notable being that both appear to be involved with women who love them. Similarly, the failure-ridden life of the washed-up lawman who narrates the album’s centerpiece ‘Used to Be a Cop’ prevents the story from veering into idealized, unrealistic, black and white morality. The narrator’s alcoholism and violent streak lead to the revocation of his badge, which is in essence the only notable accomplishment in his otherwise unmemorable life. The world-weary cynicism captured so succinctly then goes on to inform the police reaction when justice is levelled outside the jurisdiction of the law on ‘The Fireplace Poker.’ All told, the beauty of the album becomes apparent as each song adds layers of character motivation and complexity to a story of small-town hideousness, expanding a murder ballad into a sustained, sometimes disturbing album.
Lyrically, Go-Go Boots is a hugely rewarding record – the story is in no rush to be told, and is quite effective in its slow, calculated delivery. This means, however, that the punch of the record is delivered lyrically instead of musically, and some may miss the fun and stomp of the brawlers and anthems typical of a Trucker’s album. Go-Go Boots demands focussed listening as it is not musically engaging enough to deliver much of an impact when played in the background.
