By DJ Monk
The title of this, the latest offering from Bostonian countrified garage punks Dirty Truckers, could be seen to be somewhat misleading, as it is not, as it might suggest, the band’s second album. In fact, Messrs Baker, Overbaugh and co have been kicking around the rock ‘n’ roll Überverse since the end of the last millennium and have already presented us with three albums, an EP and a career-spanning ‘Best Of…’ compilation. Where the title is an accurate summation of what we have here is that it is actually a follow-up to aforesaid compilation…
What ‘Second Dose’ does is basically fill in the remaining gaps in the Truckers’ back catalogue that 2018’s suitably titled 22-track double offering omitted. ‘Best Of’ included something like two-thirds of the Boston wranglers’ recorded output to date, from 2001’s ‘Bush League Romance’ debut through 2006’s ‘Washed & Ready’ and 2008’s ‘Loose In The Joints’ to 2017’s ‘Tiger Stripes’ extended player: ‘Second Dose’ picks up the remaining third – well, most of it – and repackages it in one neat little parcel of rock ‘n’ roll goodness.
The difference on this occasion is that they kick off proceedings with a new song, ‘Little Mine’, a jangly, jaunty slice of country-edged power pop accentuated by Baker’s Petty-esque drawl, before they dive straight into the deepest recesses of their back catalogue, turning the clock all the way back to turn of the millennium and ‘Hotel Highway View’, with it’s Ramones-tinged punkiness. They go on to mess with their timeline, travelling forward to 2017 for ‘Arms Length’ and ‘Feedback’ before revisiting 2006 and the first of two covers that were included on that year’s ‘Washed & Ready’, a lively interpretation of the long-lost Lyres ditty ‘Help You Ann’. The second cover from that album, a punked-up version of Nick Lowe’s ‘Ragin Eyes’ takes the same place it did 14 years ago – right at the end of the tracklist: nice touch of historical referencing that.
One new song in four years is not a prodigious output by any means. But, then, both Baker and Tad Overbaugh have been off doing other things, with the latter also having released a new solo album on the same day as this here compilation. Let’s hope they have some more new material in the pipeline to satiate our appetite for their brand of alt-country rock ‘n’ roll. Until then, ‘Second Dose’ is both a timely reminder of the strength of their collective songwriting (and performing) skills, and a possible appetite-whetter for more to come.
- ‘Second Dose’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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