20 Signs of Life From 2003

I first saw Drive-By Truckers at Athens, Ga.’s now-defunct Hi-Hat Club in 1998. Even then, their brand of countrified, redneck rock was strangely captivating. The band has since progressed, slowly at first and then rushing headlong with Southern Rock Opera, a concept album based on the tragic Lynyrd Skynyrd story. But Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and company didn’t stop there. Facing trying personal times plagued by divorce, deaths of loved ones and financial struggles, the band members went into the studio and—with the help of David Barbe’s brilliant, tasteful, raw-in-all-the-right-places production—cranked out one of the greatest Southern rock records of all time.

With Decoration Day, The Truckers have matured, transcending the schtick of their earlier material (well-crafted schtick, though it was) and tapping into something timeless. The band’s latest has it all, from hard-hitting lyrics and rowdy, punkish southern-fried riff rock (the epic “Sink Hole”) to honest, heartbreaking ballads that capture the pain of a disintegrating relationship (“Sounds Better in the Song,” “(Something’s Got to) Give Pretty Soon”).

Earlier this year, Hood told Paste, “I feel like it’s a record that anyone else can listen to, and they might see some of themselves in it, even though the situation might be totally different.” His words ring true and that’s yet another reason for the gravity of this album. A torch has been passed to these unlikely heroes from Athens, and the flame of rock ’n’ roll burns bright—now if it can just quit tellin’ young boys lies…