Drive-by Truckers’ ninth full-length bears the mark of recent collaborators Booker T. Jones and Bettye LaVette, with a late-night soul vibe and two covers of songs by Muscle Shoals legend Eddie Hinton. Still, it’s yet another trip to the part of town where you really shouldn’t be, in a district the Truckers call home. Mike Cooley does the country shuffles about love lost (or thrown away), evoking bittersweet resignation. But Patterson Hood is still the main event, calling forth a rogues’ gallery of ex-cops, misunderstood stalkers, and disgraced preachers willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden. Most of them pay dearly.
