Drive-By Truckers
The Big To-Do

Well, here comes the new one from the Drive-By Truckers, who with this one collect a background of at least a dozen records, none below four stars, also considering a couple of live albums and a b-sides and oddities compilation at the same level.

After the solo break with "Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)" (also highly commendable), Patterson Hood, the mind and engine of the group, makes a great return with his band of rogues to release "The Big To-Do", little stories from each of which a film of the real America could be made, that America that lives in the desert cities, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas.

Here we travel on "big trucks" with the guitars blazing: there are no half measures to define the genre, this is pure and simple southern rock, with all the hard baggage that one can imagine when faced with such firepower.

It isn't easy to single out individual tracks to judge them one by one, the sound structure of this album is so compact: simply release the brakes (but fasten your seat belts) on "Daddy Learned To Fly" and you'll find yourself at "Eyes Like Glue" as if after a rollercoaster ride, but you won't feel the need to stop, just to start over, perhaps pausing a little more on "You Got Another", before doing the death loop on "This Fucking Job".

The sun is setting over the Grand Canyon... Hurry up... Before it gets dark...