BUILT TO SPILL
You in Reverse (4 stars)
Few indie rockers outshined Built to Spill during the 1990s, but a new decade brought an unexpected downturn for Boise, Idaho's, finest, who sounded weary and unenthused on 2001's Ancient Melodies of the Future. Longtime listeners were left wondering if the band had suddenly run dry, concerns hardly allayed by the ensuing five-year studio hiatus.
Breathe easy, BTS fan base. You in Reverse marks a sharp return to form, offering proof that leader Doug Martsch and his mates did not fritter those many months away. Rather, they rededicated themselves to epic songwriting—call it indie for the guitar-rock set—dreamt up some heavenly melodies and, best of all, stripped away extraneous production layers to reveal a lean, muscular sound.
Despite their duration, leadoff track "Goin' Against Your Mind" (8:42) and first single "Conventional Wisdom" (6:21) maintain immediacy throughout, while shorter cuts "Traces" and "Just a Habit" manage to pack a few surprises before signing off. Only the Eastern-flavored "Mess With Time" falters, but that's not enough to prevent Reverse from marking a welcome step forward.
Drive-By Truckers
A Blessing and a Curse (3.5 stars)
Ever since their critically-acclaimed 2001 concept album Southern Rock Opera (inspired by the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd), Drive-By Truckers have been the pre-eminent Southern rock band for intellectuals, but that doesn't mean they don't rock as hard as their heroes. On their seventh album, DBT have smaller concerns than the entire story of Southern rock, but their wit and insights are just as sharp, and their three-guitar attack is devastatingly effective.
From the wry humor of "Aftermath U.S.A." to the melancholy of "Daylight," A Blessing and a Curse is as much about the struggles of everyday life as it is about any uniquely Southern concerns, but you can hear the voice of dark Flannery O'Connor stories in the death-obsessed "Little Bonnie," and the twang of the guitars evoke humid nights on porches somewhere in the band's home state of Alabama.
Leader Patterson Hood is, as always, the dominant songwriter, but Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell make worthy contributions, especially Cooley's dryly sarcastic "Gravity's Gone." A Blessing and a Curse is intimate, immediate and distinctive; it's all blessing, no curse.
Toby Keith
White Trash With Money (2 stars)
I can't think of a more apt front cover photo for redneck country popster Toby Keith's latest CD, White Trash With Money. The problem is, the photo is on the back. The front shows nothing more than Keith's goatee and a two-ton cow-patty hat turned down on his burly mug. The shot on the back is a close-up of country bling—a big gold chain hanging from Keith's neck with a dollar sign emblazoned on it.
Keith is one rich and popular right-wing country star.
Keith should, of course, be judged on his singing and songwriting: White Trash With Money is nothing more than a collection of mediocre, radio-ready country. Rowdy anthems like "Get Drunk and be Somebody," "Hell No" and "Note to Self" exude what fans love about Keith: good-ole-boy patriotism and an ability to belt out barstool logic like Garth Brooks' problem brother.
As he sings in his inane TV commercial, Keith is "a Ford truck man and that's all I drive."
Keith is only going to make one kind of album.
And he's fine with that one dimension.