Artist: Drive By TruckersAlbum:

The Big To-DoRelease date: March 16Rating (Skip, Stream, or Buy): BuyDownload:

“Birthday Boy”Along with their previous tour mates the Hold Steady, the Drive By Truckers are not only one of the best live bands in the United States, they are one of the most successful. This is not to say they’re getting wealthy, but the fact that they’ve been making a decent living playing sold-out mid-sized venues for nearly a decade speaks to the caliber of their live performance. They rarely have an off night.The hazard that accompanies that strength is that recorded material has a hard time living up to that sort of off unhinged energy. DBT’s have a had a weak moment or two; most fans agree that the A Blessing and A Curse was a bit of let down after a trio of fantastic records (Southern Rock Opera,

Decoration Day and The Dirty South), and though 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark had some strong components, it’s sprawling, double-disc size made it a tad uneven.Blessedly, The Big To-Do is their most focused and growth-oriented release since Southern Rock Opera. Sounding refreshed after taking a well-deserved break from touring last year, they turned out a baker’s dozen of concise, tightly crafted songs that cover their stock material: down-and-out drinking, domestic drama, the values of family, and their own life on the road. However, they are stretching a great deal musically, pulling in grander arrangements, deeper and more nuanced guitar tones and most notably, giving more space for bassist Shonna Tucker to truly shine, as she indisputably does on “You’ve Got Another”, a simple, but gorgeous executed ballad that finishes with a subtly sweeping piano coda. No Seattle dates are set yet, but hopefully they’ll make it our way soon.