‘Dean of American rock critics' Robert Christgau and his love for this band from Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — It's not uncommon for music to be playing between 12 to 18 hours a day in Robert Christgau's apartment.
Then, when he's ready, he starts to write about what all the sounds that had been swirling around in his head for the better part of a day make him feel.
It's a process that has earned the esteemed writer the moniker of 'dean of American rock critics,' covering the thousands of albums and artists he has covered since the 1960s for places like The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Esquire, NPR to his own Substack, 'And It Don't Stop.'
Over the years, he has covered and reviewed work as varied as The Allman Brothers Band and Kraftwerk to Nina Simone and Fela Kuti and countless others. In recent years, however, Christgau has taken a shine to one particular band from Alabama: Drive-By Truckers.
'They're a great f****** band,' Christgau told CBS 42 during a recent phone interview. 'It's as simple as that.'
Christgau's association with the band goes back to their sophomore album, 'Pizza Deliverance,' in 1999.
'Rockers playing sorta-country with rough enthusiasm and nothing like a sound, they make their mark detailing the semivoluntary poverty DIY musicians share with the highly subsuburban constituency they imagine,' he wrote at the time.
As the band put out new music and members came and went, Christgau continued to cover the band and with a couple of exceptions — he felt DBT's sophomore album 'Alabama Ass Whuppin'' had 'loads of stories, not much music' — remains a loyal fan.
'Without fussing over bridges and such, they treat their job like a calling–verses are packed with stories they need to tell and choruses ring out with why,' Christgau wrote of 'Decoration Day.'
Christgau, 82, even dedicated an extended essay about the band for the Barnes & Noble Review in 2011, highlighting their work up to 'Go-Go Boots.'
'The Drive-By Truckers aren't bigger than Jesus,' he wrote. 'They aren't even bigger than Kings of Leon, or Jesus' Son. But body-of-work-wise, they deserve to be.'
An avid reader as well, Christgau also favorably reviewed Stephen Deussner's biography of the band, 'Where the Devil Don't Stay: Traveling the South with the Drive-By Truckers.'
'Everything Deusner has to tell us about the evolution of this remarkable band is of interest,' he wrote in 2023. 'They've led a long, complex, and idiosyncratic artistic life that's far from over.'
Even Patterson Hood, the band's primary singer and songwriter, has gotten the Christgau treatment on his solo albums, including his latest one, 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,' which was released earlier this month.
'I found the head Drive By Trucker's quasi-autobiographical songwriting here so varied and indeed interesting that I dipped back two decades to reaccess his 2004 solo debut 'Killers and Stars,' which I assayed in 120 B plus/A minus words for Blender but never gave it its own review in the Consumer Guide,' Christgau wrote in his latest Consumer Guide on 'And It Don't Stop.' 'Not bad, right, only the new one's even better.'
When reached at his home in New York City, Christgau said one aspect of Hood's work on his latest solo album is the way he articulates his emotional life, especially on love.
'Ideologically, it's an important part of how I've organized my life,' said Christgau, who has been married to the writer Carola Dibbell for over 50 years.
With DBT, who kick off their next tour in Texas on May 29, Christgau will continue to follow the band's work.
'I think they're an absolutely A-level band,' he said.
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