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I finally got my hands on Sirens of the Ditch and after a week of steady playing I have two thoughts:
1) This is a great album featuring some excellent songwriting.
2) I would be so much happier if these songs were wrapped around Hood and Conley compositions on a Drive-By Truckers album.
As I have mentioned previously on HearYa, I wasn’t particularly happy about the split of Isbell and DBT . I thought the the songwriting and vocals of Isbell, Cooley and Hood all complimented each other and brought out the best of each individual. Isbell always struck me as the one who wore his heart on the sleeve, pouring his soul into songs like “Outfit,” “Decoration Day” and “Danko/Manuel.” Those songs were always a welcomed respite during a live DBT show and served as a quick break from the the three-guitar attack.
“Dress Blues” is another tune cut from the same cloth. A song about a friend of his who died in Iraq, it has no political agenda rather and focuses on the futility of it all from a local perspective. Oz put it well in his first “Song Obsessions” over at I Pick My Nose:
“I hate protest songs. Jason Isbell’s “Dress Blues” is a song about war, but he’s not arrogant or pretentious like other songwriters (Colin Oberst). He wrote this song after a high school friend of his died in Iraq, but his voice is the perspective of a small town guy coming to grips with the death of a friend and the reality of war. It’s a song about grief, loss, and acceptance, and it deeply affects me every time I listen.”
“Hurricanes & Hand Grenades” changes pace and shows off a little bluesy soul and Isbell even manages to squeeze in a few rockers on the album, including the opener “Brand New Kind of Actress.”
In Jason’s future releases, I hope to find a little bit more of that Drive-By Truckers grit and grime, but that being said, this is a great debut and hopefully a sign of great things to come from Isbell.
Jason Isbell - Dress Blues (Buy the Album)
Jason Isbell Performing “Chicago Promenade”
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