Jason Isbell Brings Pop-Tinged Southern Rock To Double Door

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 15, 2010 8:50PM

For seven years Jason Isbell played the George Harrison role to Patterson Hood's Lennon and Mike Cooley's McCartney in the lauded Drive-by Truckers. Isbell would get a couple of solid songs on each DBT record, but compared to the prolific Hood and his partner-in-crime Cooley, that was about it.

Although all three wrote songs that found the ray of sunlight peeking into the dustbin of redneck living, Isbell's compositions always seemed to have had a more personal narrative straining within the confines of the Truckers' sonic template. His post-DBT debut, Sirens From the Ditch, made largely with assists from his ex-bandmates, was a solid transition record from his work with the Truckers. Last year's Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, however, showed a willingness to diversify the music to match Isbell's lyric. "Seven Mile Island" benefits from strains of steel guitar and a percussive rhythm, while "Good" is a four-on-the-floor pop rocker. The best song on the record is the closing track. "The Last Song I Ever Write" is a melancholy lament that indicates Isbell is far from that. With his band the 400 Unit, Isbell is capable of playing both his solo compositions and expanding on DBT classics like "Decoration Day," "The Ballad of John Henry" and "Never Gonna Change."

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit play Double Door tomorrow night at 8 p.m., headlining a loaded bill. Tickets available here.