Folk Storytelling, Punk Energy, and Southern Soul Come Together on Drivin N Cryin’s ‘Crushing Flowers’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Closing in on four decades of blending folk, Americana, and Southern rock, Drivin N Cryin can still effortlessly churn out a remarkable record.

On their 11th album, Crushing Flowers, the band still splits the difference between Bob Dylan’s introspection and the Ramones’ punch. “Mirror Mirror,” written after singer Kevn Kinney’s visits with his mother during her battle with Alzheimer’s, unfolds like poetry set to music. It’s immediately followed by the jolt of the ode to Atlanta traffic “Why Don’t You Go Around,” all charging guitars and sharp harmonies, with Kinney snarling its title from the jump.

Like every record they’ve put out since their 1986 debut (the wildly underrated Scarred But Smarter), Crushing Flowers slips seamlessly from one genre to the next, blurring influences. The band sandwiches an upbeat folk track like “Dead End Road” between the title track – a powerful, timeless rock song that sounds like it could have come out anytime between the ’80s and now – and “Keep The Change,” a caffeinated Southern rock singalong with rockabilly guitars and a rolling drumbeat. Elsewhere, “Come On And Dance” is an infectiously joyful track with a chorus that bears a striking resemblance to the Ramones’ “Rock and Roll High School.” Meanwhile, “Looks Like We’re Back Again” and “The Death of Me Yet” find the band leaning into their punk and hard rock influences.

The trio brought in their former guitarist and current member of Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit Sadler Vaden to produce the record and enlisted longtime friend Peter Buck to play guitar on “Mirror Mirror.” Vaden also contributes piano, organ, and guitar across various tracks, while the late Todd Snider provides vocals on the closing, groove-heavy “Iggy Monkey.”

At a time when longevity often comes with diminishing returns, Crushing Flowers feels anything but complacent. Drivin N Cryin continue to operate in their own space, where folk storytelling, punk energy, and Southern soul aren’t so much fused as lived-in. Kinney’s voice – weathered, often vulnerable, but unmistakably his – ties it all together. Nearly 40 years on, they’re not refining the formula; they’re simply reminding you why it’s always worked.