English Oceans

English Oceans

The big buzz on Drive-By Truckers’ 12th album is that Mike Cooley, the band’s secondary writer after Patterson Hood, penned six of the album’s 13 tunes, making English Oceans a dialogue between the two senior members. This friendly conversation/competition only further strengthens a band that’s always considered songwriting of premium importance. Recorded over 13 days at Chase Park Transduction Studios in Athens, Ga., with their longtime producer David Barbe, English Oceans features nasty, grungy guitars (“Pauline Hawkins”), stinging social commentary (Cooley’s “Made Up English Oceans,” Hood’s “The Part of Him”), and a virtual walk through rock ’n’ roll history, with the opening Lynyrd Skynyrd barroom romp “S*** Shots Count” and the chiming Byrds-like “Primer Coat” (or is that R.E.M., considering its Athens roots?). There's a Celtic vibe to “Grand Canyon,” a tribute to Craig Lieske, a longtime member of the band’s road crew who died suddenly and to whom the album is dedicated.

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