‘The heaven that awaits you is a bar that never closes’

“It all started at the border, and that’s still where it is today.” Those are the first words heard on Drive-By Truckers’ 2016 release “American Band.” The border in the lyric is the line between the United States and Mexico, the album represents a line of demarcation as well.

The band was shifting from being bards of the modern South, no longer content to point out the “duality of the Southern thing.” Drive-By Truckers were moving to the vanguard in a fight against one side of the duality, and the Dance Band of the Revolution was born.

American Band “American Band” and, subsequently, “The Unraveling” and “The New OK” were pointed critiques of an America in crisis. And there was no ambivalence as to who the band believed was to blame.

For their new release, “Welcome 2 Club XIII,” the Dance Band of the Revolution has shifted focus to reflection and reminiscence. The title track sees Patterson Hood recount early gigs at Club XIII where the band was a terrible misfit, but sometimes “Muscle Shoals just needs some punk.” “The Driver” is a dark, thumping trip through Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and the years. Highway tragedy is a recurring theme in Hood’s work and “The Driver” is a reminder that no one paints car wrecks quite like Patterson.

“Shake and Pine” is the album’s standout track. The musical relationship between Matt Patton’s bass and Brad Morgan’s drums provide the perfect backdrop for Hood’s half hopeless, half hopeful story with a melody as undeniably sweet as the final line (“Alabama claw. Above the bangs and lashes and we saw it all. Reaching for the stars but only catching dust”) is undeniably Truckers.

The bow on the package is a guitar solo that recalls Heartbreaker Mike Campbell or, more appropriately, R.E.M’s Peter Buck. The album does feature a direct R.E.M connection with bassist Mike Mills contributing backing vocals. Additionally, Margo Price shows up to sing with Hood on “Forged in Hell and Heaven Sent.”

Mike Cooley’ s two contributions cover well-meaning rock ‘n’ roll lies and, of course, the possible lies told in the 1836 memoir of nun called “Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk.” “Every Single Storied Flameout” is a collection of one-liners and turns of phrase that are impressive, even by Cooley’s ridiculous standard. “Maria’s Awful Disclosures” is a “Sarah’s Flame” for a different time and place but somehow, unfortunately, still incredibly relevant.

These songs were crafted and first saw the light of day during a series of inhouse concerts that were streamed during the Freshmen and Sophomore years of the pandemic. They echo the times in which they were minted.

“Welcome 2 Club XIII”  is a record that misses the road, even though it is dangerous. It misses humans even though they too are dangerous. While the record does not reach the heights of some its predecessors, there are also no lows of which to speak. A time with no lows to speak is what passes for Heaven these days and to Patterson Hood “The heaven that awaits you is a bar that never closes”.