Drive-By Truckers
Go-Go Boots

2.5
average

Review

by JViney EMERITUS
February 20th, 2011 | 23 replies

Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

Review Summary: You may as well get out and walk

Athens, Georgia must be a strange and contradictory place. The city is home to the wacky B-52s, the po-faced R.E.M. and Drive-by Truckers, who seem to fall somewhere in between. After 2010’s rock-laden effort The Big To Do, the group have refused to rest on their laurels and have released Go-Go Boots, an album that brings them back into more familiar territory.

In keeping with the country tradition, the songs on Go-Go Boots are hard-luck stories about people on the fringes of life. Folks who are married yet cavort with strippers and mistresses, people in dead end jobs and those who are simply not cut out to live a normal, stress-free existence. As the group’s name suggests, the music carries with it the idea of momentum. Large spaces filled with sparse views and that essence of loneliness, much like a long distance truck drive. However, it’s these large spaces that are the group’s undoing. There simply isn’t enough on this album to fill the gaps. It’s more than evident that they are adept at their art. There’s clean and crisp production, clear and concise vocals and a sense of the continuation of a fine tradition but there is a distinct lack of substance available here. “Ray’s Automatic Weapon”, one of the better songs on the album, is blighted by a pedestrian and repetitive outro which ranks as a disappointment after its promising first half. Here the group sound involved and fully in their stride, aided by soaring guitar and dark piano chords, yet they allow it to descend into something that sounds like it has been tacked on for its own sake. There’s no shame in two-minute songs.

The music peddled by Drive By Truckers is steeped in a fine and rich history and it’s something that is kept alive here. “The Weakest Man” sounds like it was pilfered from Johnny Cash’s bedside table and “Pulaski” is driven by that classic country rhythm, calling to mind the classic image of hoboes riding the rails from town to town. Better still are the vocal contributions of bass player Shonna Tucker who propels the tracks “Dancin’ Ricky” and “Where’s Eddie?” from obscurity to two of the more prominent efforts on the album.

There isn’t an awful lot to get excited about on this album. A majority of the songs keep to the same tempo and elicit little variety. There’s always the threat that the album could break out into something with more verve, more energy but ultimately this potential is never realised. There are also frequent moments of stale indulgence. Some of the songs are unjustifiably long. “Used To Be A Cop” and “The Fireplace Poker” clock in at 7:06 and 8:17 respectively with very little in the way of memorable moments. The album’s title track, at a more manageable 5:38, is still overlong and as a whole these songs could have benefited from some editing. Music like this has its place and a defined audience but it appears doubtful that Go-Go Boots will bring in more fans or give the group further prominence.

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