Drive-By Truckers w/ Those Darlins

Athens, Ga., rockers the Drive-By Truckers followed up 2008's revelatory Brighter Than Creation's Dark, a stripped-down and largely acoustic album recorded after guitarist Jason Isbell left the band, with last year's The Big To-Do, one of the group's most rocking albums, a disc that owes particular debt to the roots rock of Tom Petty. This year's Go-Go Boots is much more acoustic and stripped down, and it feels a bit tossed-off compared to the two great records it followed. Even on a lesser Drive-By Truckers album, though, the bittersweet songwriting of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley offers plenty to love. Openers Those Darlins bring a little girl-group glamour and sweetness to the rugged sound of outlaw country.