Drive-By Truckers — Live From Austin TX

This 13-song set recorded for an Austin City Limits episode last September is available here in the same package as both a 71-minute CD and an 82-minute DVD.

While the Truckers are an entertaining live band, they often overindulge and go on too long for some people's liking. The TV show helped rein some of the extended sections in and makes for an overall more enjoyable listen that showcases Mike Cooley and the slightly-higher voiced Patterson Hood's singing, songwriting and guitar-playing talents. Bassist Shonna Tucker also contributes "I'm Sorry Huston," but the studio version from last year's Brighter Than Creation's Dark remains superior.

Things start gentle and jangly with "Perfect Timing" and "Heathens." But aside from Tucker's aforementioned song and the acoustic, country-leaning "Space City," most of the other tracks are guitar-driven, mid-tempo southern rockers — with John Neff's pedal steel shining through on "A Ghost To Most" and the early Wilco-leaning "The Living Bubba."

"Puttin' People On The Moon" is one of Hood's working class anthems, and musically Jay Gonzalez's keyboards mesh well with the guitars. Hood goes autobiographical on the band name-checking "Let There Be Rock" and "18 Wheels Of Love," where his lengthy and moving spoken-word introduction has more of an impact than the song.