The Mother Truckers

With Let’s All Go To Bed, Austin’s Mother Truckers officially earn status as one of the best bands in Texas alt-country — heck, let’s just take out the Texas and call them what they are: one of the best bands on the Americana scene, period. “Dynamite,” the album’s first track, packs a wallop with Josh Zee’s almost shredder-like guitar attacks and Teal Collins’ equally confident vocals; it’s a hint of the explosive moments to come. Influenced as much by Southern rock (Georgia Satellites-style) as country roots and Timbuk 3 attitude, the Mother Truckers (don’tcha love that name) light the match with “Streets of Atlanta,” a song that nearly beats Springsteen’s “Red Headed Woman” for steaminess. The breathless intensity is maintained through “Never Miss My Baby” and “I’m Comin’ Over,” and just about when it seems all this band can do is really fast tunes with lots of guitar pyrotechnics and kicky vocals, they downshift with the lovely “Kaki’s Song” and the showstopping gospel cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “When I Get My Wings,” on which Collins’ full-on vocal gymnastics get to impress as much as Zee’s guitar prowess. On the title tune, the well-matched husband-and-wife team create a party-ready country raveup with loads of engine-driving harp, along with more frenetic guitar and drumstick clippity-clops (provided by Dan Thompson). Alternating between powerhouse rockers and slightly more relaxing cuts like the pleasantly pop-tinged, Maria McKee-reminiscent “Quiet Night,” this album begs the question: Why haven’t the Mother Truckers made more of a national impact? Who knows? But Bed should definitely fix that.