During their 18-year history, Drive-By Truckers have never fired off a political statement as scathing as English Oceans. Songs like “Made Up English Oceans” and “The Part of Him” take direct aim at the Republican hucksters making the Dirty South’s political sphere downright filthy with their shady agendas. Though the Athens, Ga.-bred band recently parted ways with several longtime members, co-founders Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley collaborated prominently on the 13-song album, which was recorded in a mere 13 days. Meanwhile, the Truckers cap things off with “Grand Canyon,” a soulful, spacey coda in honor of longtime friend and touring member Craig Lieske, who died in early 2013 and whose memory punctuates the group’s toughest album since Decoration Day.