#5: Drive-By Truckers - 'The Dirty South'

The “absolutely, positively not-art-fags” Band of the Year. That these guys (and one gal thanks to the addition of bassist Shonna Tucker) just keep getting better is ridiculous. Who knew they would top Southern Rock Opera with Decoration Day, then proceed to top Decoration Day with this year’s The Dirty South? Who knew that Jason Isbell would not just be a great lead guitarist but a songwriter on par with bandmates Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley? Well, DBT play like they’ve known it all along, and there isn’t another band out there that cranks out the quality of songwriting cranked up to such an excessive volume. Which is not to say that The Dirty South doesn’t have some quieter moments. In fact, it's their richest, most beautifully produced and arranged record to date. DBT often write songs about myths: the myth of rock’s past, the myths of The South, the myths of love. But if you blink, you might miss the fact that Drive-By Truckers are turning into a myth themselves, a band so committed to telling stories that all else takes a back seat. Consequently, they have no peers.