By Brent Thompson
Having released three politically-fueled albums – American Band, The Unraveling and The New OK, Drive-By Truckers have taken it back to Muscle Shoals on the band’s 14th studio album, Welcome 2 Club XIII [ATO Records]. Named for a dive bar that frontmen Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley haunted back in the day, the album’s material reflects on youth and the road on tracks including “The Driver,” “Wilder Days” and the title track. But a lack of overt, political commentary doesn’t mean the band has softened its sound or stance – there’s still plenty of fire to be found here with a slower burn.