The Andrew Extravaganza

My current top five favorite bands, in no particular order and subject to change:

Wilco
Spoon
Silver Jews
The Good Life
Drive-By Truckers

For each of those bands you can pick any album and I can listen to it on an endless loop, I'll be content and I won't grow tired of it (though Wilco's A Ghost is Born comes close to being the exception). So upon finding out that one of my top five favorite bands will be adding to their catalog in the very near future, well, I was excited and approaching giddy.

The news is a little over a month old now, but I just found out yesterday: the new Drive-By Truckers album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark is scheduled to be released on January 22, 2008. That's only a one month wait for what promises to be one hell of an album. Seven Mike Cooley penned songs and nineteen total tracks, including three by bassist Shonna Tucker.

The Track Listing (writer/lead vocalist):

1. Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife (Patterson Hood)
2. Three Dimes Down (Mike Cooley)
3. The Righteous Path (Patterson Hood)
4. I'm Sorry Huston (Shonna Tucker)
5. Perfect Timing (Mike Cooley)
6. Daddy Needs a Drink (Patterson Hood)
7. Self Destructive Zones (Mike Cooley)
8. Bob (Mike Cooley)
9. Home Field Advantage (Shonna Tucker)
10. Opening Act (Patterson Hood)
11. Lisa's Birthday (Mike Cooley)
12. The Man I Shot (Patterson Hood)
13. Purgatory Line (Shonna Tucker)
14. The Home Front (Patterson Hood)
15. Check Out Time In Vegas (Mike Cooley)
16. You and Your Crystal Meth (Patterson Hood)
17. Goode's Field Road (Patterson Hood)
18. A Ghost To Most (Mike Cooley)
19. Monument Valley (Patterson Hood)

I'm finding it hard to contain my excitement at the moment, but I'm going to be disciplined and cut this thing short.

To complete the entry, a couple of Mike Cooley songs to wet your whistle:

When the Pin Hits the Shell [audio removed], a simple little country number from Decoration Day that I think really shows off his ability as a lyricist: sincere, folksy, and humorous all at once.

Marry Me [audio removed], a rocking Rolling Stones'ey tune, also from Decoration Day, and featuring the opening line, "Well, my daddy didn't pull out, but he never apologized." The man can turn a phrase.

hey dude, I was wondering if you were going to post some information for the bowls like you did for some of the games earlier.

Yeah, I've been meaning to, but got sidetracked. I ought to get something up tomorrow morning.

Turns out I lied...change tomorrow morning to sometime by Sunday evening. At the very least I will get something up for the major games of New Year's Day and beyond.