We here at Twangville have always loved us some Drive-By Truckers. So rather than limit ourselves to a single reviewer giving you his take, we’ve teamed together to give you this monster review. Hope you enjoy…..
“In Muscle Shoals the love the Swampers, They’ve been gone to pick a song or two”, are familiar words sung by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The Swampers were the house band at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the sixties ended, they started their own studio, Muscle Shoals Sound. The Swampers’ bassist was David Hood, father of Patterson Hood. Go-Go Boots is a concept album, which pays homage to the sound that came out of a sleepy corner of North Alabama, in the 60’s and 70’s. In Muscle Shoals the Swampers played on some big R&B hit records by Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. After, forming Muscle Shoals Sound, they continued with R&B singers like Aretha and Percy Sledge, but Country and Rock came in to conscript the local sound. Some of the more familiar names were Bob Seger, The Rolling Stones, Tony Joe White, Mac Davis, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and of course Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was an example of integration, that was less than popular at the time.
Go-Go Boots is an homage to the Truckers roots. Patterson Hood infuses the R&B and Soul sound, while Mike Cooley stays firmly planted in the Country. The Southern Gothic undertones are still there as always. It is an odd time in there career for DBT to do a concept album, but this concept is one Patterson Hood was born and raised with.
By Chip Frazier
There’s lots to love about the Drive-by Truckers eleventh album, Go-Go Boots. The murder ballads paint dark but vivid pictures of deceit and wrong-doing that no other band but the DBTs could compose in such a perfectly poetic southern drawl. A return to the Muscle Shoals soulful sound they adopted in recordings with Bettye LaVette and Booker T. Jones adds an layer of brilliance to this recording that I hope sticks around. What gets me going more than anything on this album is the work on keys by Jay Gonzalez this being his second album with the Truckers. Listen close and you’ll hear him on piano, Wurlitzer, Hammond B-3 not-to-mention accordion and saw. The underlying sound that Gonzalez adds on keys adds an element of time and place to the stories that play out on Go-Go Boots. A particular highlight of the album is the addition of the Eddie Hinton penned classic “Everybody Needs Love” an unusually sunny song on an otherwise wonderfully dark and cloudy album.  Standouts: “Everybody Needs Love”, “Used To Be A Cop”, “Mercy Buckets” — Tom Osborne [★★★★/4.071]
By Tom Osborne
Secret to a Happy Ending foreshadows Go-Go Boots
Balancing three-songwriters with unique voices and talents has never been an easy task, if it’s even possible. The Drive-By Truckers managed the feat for six years  until Jason Isbell hit the road, literally. Barr Weissman managed to stick around for the period and his moving film “The Secret to a Happy Ending†truly informs the understanding of the band’s roots.
One of the most striking aspects of the film is the transformation of Jason Isbell. In 2001, as Isbell could barely drink alcohol legally, he joined the Drive-by Truckers. Patterson Hood was 37 at the time and Mike Cooley was 35. For those six years, the band spanned two generations. They embodied the “duality†of youth and age in the unique perspective on the “southern thing.†It is a feat that has not been matched since.
The film largely follows the back-story of the three main songwriters (Isbell, Cooley & Hood) and the band’s own personal journey. Interviews largely describe a  picture of the band whose members “weren’t good at anything else.†Each one somehow finds themselves in a critically acclaimed southern rock band.
Weissman’s story winds through Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the civil rights movement, and the history of the area and right up through Go-Go Boots. While they’ve often flirted with it on previous records, Patterson Hood seems to be finally channeling the spirit of Muscle Shoals. In particular, “Everybody Needs Love†sounds like an old Eddie Hinton track. Cooley’s still got his expert guitar-driven songwriting and authentic Alabama drawl. His tracks have a simple power, but Patterson really seems to be pushing the limits for the band here.
And while my Twangville colleagues may disagree, bassist Shonna Tucker’s tunes portray a unique voice. The tempo and stylistic ballads may be a bit jarring, but are still high quality. Like Neko Case, Tucker’s voice manages to cut through the atmospheric production and produce an emotional, if repetitive effect on listeners. With their story in hand, the Truckers’ journey pushes forward and nods back with a push and pull. Roll on Truckers.
By Jeff McMahon
While Go-Go Boots is yet another great addition to the catalog of the sneakily prolific Drive by Truckers, it’s slow, swamp of whiskey-soaked molasses represents a trend that might be troubling, if the album wasn’t so darn good, and if we we’re talking about any other band. A trend of unevenness (is that a word?) seems to be developing since the departure of Jason Isbell. It’s a nebulous, loosely-defined uneven quality, but as one gazes upon the big picture that is the post-Isbell releases, it’s hard not to feel like this is a band trying to figure out who they are, even though it sometimes seems as though we all think we have known for so long.
By Kelly Dearmore
For a band that pumps out as many records as the Truckers, there are bound to be some duds. Â I’m not going as far as saying Go-Go Boots is a dud, but upon the first few listens, nothing has really stuck with me other than the cover of “Everybody Needs Love.” Â Once again, I have to state that I’m not a fan of Shonna’s song or her vocal style. Â I’d much rather hear another Cooley track in her space and nix the cover she croons. Â “Assholes” is a fair enough number and “Go Go Boots” (the song) is kinda cool, but there are definitely no “This Fucking Job” or “Birthday Boy” tunes here as on The Big To Do. Â The Marshall/Les Paul is what the Truckers do best and that is a bit subdued here. Â Saying all of this, I’m still spinning the record, and who knows…it could end up one of my favorites. Â It’s just too soon to tell.
By Todd Mathis
5 Things I Like About Go-Go Boots
1) Patterson Hood – Songs like “I Do Believe,†“Mercy Buckets,†and “Used to Be a Cop†remind us why Hood is the consummate Southern storyteller.
2) Three, count ‘em, three guitars – Sure, this defines any number of Drive-By Truckers records.   Doesn’t make it any less relevant.
3) “Everybody Needs Love†– This track is a great reminder that songwriting doesn’t have to be about bombast and complexity, sometimes simplicity of song and lyric can carry the day.   Here’s hoping that this song introduces a whole new audience to Eddie Hinton.
Eddie Hinton – Everybody Needs Love from Drive-By Truckers on Vimeo.
4) “Mercy Buckets†– “I will bring you buckets of mercy, and hold your hand when you’re crossing the street, pay your bail if you need it, I will be your saving grace… I will be your saving grace… I will be your saving grace…â€
5) New album = new tour. Â Never a bad thing.
By Mayer Danzig
5 Songs
1) “Used to Be A Cop†was the first song from Go-Go Boots that was unleashed on the public in the form of a music video (see below). I wasn’t crazy about the song as a single, because it was long and a bit down tempo—the exact opposite of “This Fucking Job†and “Birthday Boy†from The Big To Do. However, I’ve grown to absolutely love the song as an album track. It ranks right up there with Patterson Hood’s best dark story songs. And, it fits Go-Go Boots guitar vamp sound like a glove.
Used to Be a Cop – Go-Go Boots – Drive-By Truckers from Drive-By Truckers on Vimeo.
2) “Everybody Needs Love†is the first of two Eddie Hinton covers on the record and I had high expectations for this one. I’d been digging the band’s live arrangement of this song and thought for sure this would be a big song for the band (the kind of song Cameron Crowe would put on his next soundtrack). Instead, they took the big beautiful soul song and countrified it a bit. It’s still good, but as soaring and R&B-ish as I was hoping.  New band members Jay Gonzalez (B-3?) and John Neff (some sort of slide string instrument) really make some excellent contributions to this one.
3) “Thanksgiving Filter†is my dark horse favorite song on Go-Go Boots. Hood ruminates about family and holidays with a climatic chorus and some poignant lyrics.
“and I sure wish that I had smoked me a joint/ It’s Thanksgiving and Jesus, I’m thankful/ For abundance and bounty and a big tall stiff drink-full/ And the love of your mother and the love of mine too/ Thanksgiving’s almost over and Christmas is soon.â€
4) “Pulaski†is Cooley’s best song on the record. All 3 of his contributions are acoustic country tracks like “Perfect Timing†and “Lisa’s Birthday†from BTCD, which I like.  I call them his Willie Nelson numbers. “Pulaski†has been around for a while if the bootlegs are any indication, but this version benefits from some gorgeous pedal steel as well as some eerie background vocals from the Bottom Feeders. The song’s story is about a girl who leaves her small southern town to go to college full of big expectations that don’t seem to quite work out, reminding me of Tom Wolfe’s novel I Am Charlotte Simmons. The song also has one of Cooley’s classic one-liners, “good ideas always start with a full glassâ€.
5) “Mercy Buckets†may be the best closing track in the Drive-By Trucker’s discography. Which is saying a lot, as it has to stand up against the live version of “Love Like This†(Alabama Ass Whuppin‘), “Goddamn Lonely Love†(The Dirty South), “Angels and Fuselage†(Southern Rock Opera), and insert your favorite here.  But, I stand by the statement. THIS is the soundtrack song I thought “Everybody Needs Love†might be. It’s got it all—big guitar chords, southern rock leads, tinkling piano, and a chorus as big as the band itself.
When all your good days keep getting shorter, count on me.
When you’re ’bout 20 cents shy of a quarter, count on me.
When you just need a place to hide out for a while.
I’ll help you hide the bodies in a little while.I will bring you buckets of mercy,
and hold your hand when you’re crossing the street.
I’ll play a song if you want it.If you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, count on me.
If you’re feeling that freight train running through your head, count on me.
If you just need a friend to talk to,
or maybe not talk at all.I will bring you buckets of mercy,
and put a smile back on your pretty face.
I’ll bring a shovel if you want it.
Carry your secrets to the grave.When you’re down and out, I’ll pick you up down at the station.
Put your hard times on vacation.
And get you headed on your way.I will bring you buckets of mercy,
and hold your hand when you’re crossing the street.
Pay your bail if you need it.
I will be your saving grace.
I will be your saving grace.
I will be your saving grace.
By Eli Petersen
About the author: Specializes in Dead, Drunk, and Nakedness..... Former College Radio DJ and Current Craft Beer Nerd