Drive-By Truckers: 'The New OK'

But it's inspired protest songs across the whole spectrum of musical genres these past four years. Most rock bands have stayed relatively quiet about it. Not so the Drive-By Truckers, hailing from Alabama. Just 11 months after their album 'The Unraveling', which tackled issues like migrant children growing up in cages and the opioid epidemic in the US, the new record carries on in the same vein. 'The New OK' plays out like a non-stop news bulletin delivering its verdict. A dispatch on a turbulent year and a deeply destructive presidential term that has polarised the entire country.

The band is made up of Mike Cooley (lead vocals, guitar, banjo), Patterson Hood (lead vocals, guitar), Brad Morgan (drums), Jay Gonzalez (keyboards, guitar, accordion, backing vocals) and Matt Patton (bass, backing vocals). Like many alternative bands, Drive-By Truckers record using analogue equipment. They use 2-inch, 16-track open-reel tape recorders. The band's touring and their subject matter have won them a fiercely dedicated fanbase.

Drive-By Truckers record using analogue equipment

The searing 'The Perilous Night', in particular, is undeniably revealing, with Patterson Hood singing: "Fascism knocks and Trump says 'Let them in'." He also warns: "flags of oppression blocking out the light". 'Sarah's Flame', meanwhile, is draped in gently swaying country rock riffs that lend it a distinctly Southern flavour.

Elsewhere, anger gives way to a sense of powerlessness as the established order comes crashing down. 'The New OK' has plenty of examples like this. The standout: 'Watching the Orange Clouds'. A track written as a response to the protests — and counter-protests — in Portland, Oregon, following the killing of George Floyd. (In that respect, it feels like a follow-up to 2016's 'What It Means', itself a forceful reaction to the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.) In an era of massive division, this is a strikingly brave undertaking from Drive-By Truckers.