College Times

Issue date: 9/3/09 Section: Music

Media Credit: drivebytruckers.com

Drive-By Truckers
"The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities"
(New West)
Grade: A-

After 13 years of creating sweaty, whiskey-drenched southern rock, Drive-By Truckers have certainly created an impressive catalog. But it seems the Georgia-based six-piece has been holding out on their fans for quite some time.

The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities is the newest release from DBT, packed with previously unreleased, unfinished and uncovered songs. Most of the tracks come from 2004's Dirty South recordings, with seven of the 12 tracks on The Fine Print coming from that highly-prolific period.

Another two of the 12 are covers from DBT influences and folk-rock gods Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, with the band covering Petty's "Rebels" and Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Both covers add a little steel guitar and country drawl to the original numbers, but not much else changes. However, long-time DBT member Shonna Tucker makes her first vocal appearance on any Truckers' album with "Like a Rolling Stone." Granted, it's easy to carry the tune of any Dylan song, but Tucker's less-than-perfect feminine vocal touch to the song lends some creative authenticity to the cover.

Patterson Hood, one of the group's main vocalists, makes his influence apparent on "Play It All Night Long," with his solo sound seeping through with smoker's vocals, heavy electric guitar and cowboy blues, rocking that "There ain't much to country livin'/Sweat, piss, jizz, blood." Yeah, that's accurate.

Simplicity is key on "Little Pony and The Great Big Horse," a minimal acoustic folk (minus the "rock" addition) story about the song's equine namesakes. Typical-but-gutsy DBT sound is blatant on the western-influenced "When The Well Runs Dry," which easily could have slipped its way onto one of the band's critically acclaimed albums without raising eyebrows.

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