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After the Drive-By Truckers released their strange but oddly excellent rock-opera ode to Lynyrd Skynyrd around the turn of the century (entitled “Southern Rock Opera), I figured that they’d fade into the woodwork and disappear. That didn’t happen, but I still missed their subsequent releases…until now. I can no longer ignore the Drive-By Truckers, and I would advise you to stop doing the same. “A Blessing and a Curse” is one of those disks that continually grows on you until you find yourself listening to it in constant rotation. Given a chance, it’s easy to recognize that this CD is full of concise, well-written tunes with catchy hooks and loose-limbed arrangements that rock with easy familiarity.
It’s true that much of the album suggests other artists, but the list of influences is hardly worth complaining about. There’s a healthy nod to the classic stylings of the Rolling Stones and Faces, a bit of John Fogerty’s classicism, a pinch of Wilco’s left-of-center sensibilities, and a staggering veneer that suggests the Liquor Giants. “Aftermath U.S.A.” sounds like a great lost Faces track, but it never sounds derivative. “Gravity’s Gone” has such an excellent hook that I believe it has permanently etched its way into my subconscious. Truth is, these guys have mastered the art of layering connotative lyrics over melodies that practically force you to listen, especially since the vocals are usually placed absurdly low in the mix.
As is true of most any CD these days, the pace of the disk tempers down toward the middle, with slow burners such as “Goodbye” (which sounds like it could have been written by Jeff Tweedy) and “Daylight”, but either track is still good enough to keep ‘em on the Ipod. “Wednesday” is a barnburner that brings back the energy level, but it hardly prepares you for what is to follow. Just when you might think that “A Blessing and a Curse” is a mixed blessing, the CD veers off into lyrically strange territory and takes you deeper than you might have expected. “Little Bonnie” is a spooky and strange tale of a dead child and the effect she has on surviving family members. The song is sung with a sensitivity that transcended my expectations, especially from a bunch of southern rockers. The song can haunt you much like the memory of ‘Little Bonnie’ haunts the song’s subjects. By the CD’s end, the Drive-By Truckers completely pull the rug out from under my expectations, by getting even more philosophical and emotionally intense. “A World of Hurt” is one of the best existentialist-themed songs I’ve heard in years, and even manages to challenge Richard Thompson for his dark perspective on life’s darker side. The power of “A Blessing and a Curse” lies in its structure. It comes on like gangbusters, inviting you to party down and have a few shots of whiskey, but it leaves you shaking as you stare at your shot glass to face the depth of emotion that the whiskey was intended to bury.
Grade: 
 
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