It takes singers and songwriters as skilled as Patterson Hood and his cohort Mike Cooley to pull off the paradoxical southern rock that’s Drive-By Truckers’ stock-in-trade. They handle the expected clichés of the poor white trash they proudly represent with empathy and humor. They don’t speak down to anyone and they realize there’s no point in romanticizing what’s often a less than desirable existence. “The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town” recounts a night of culture shock as the notorious punk rocker works through his own pathetic rituals to connect with his alienated brethren, while “Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)” and “Zoloft” take little jabs at perceived paths of righteousness. While their songs have their intended messages and like to tell their jokes, Drive-By Truckers are still more interested in delivering a sound that includes a lonesome pedal steel, stacks of heart-wrenching harmonies, and torrents of electric guitars that could knock out a barn door in one windmill swing.