On “Lulu’s Back in Town,” pianist Josh Paxton plays an acrobatic solo with the omni-directional energy of a four-year-old boy churning on ice cream and a juice box. When he finishes, singer Debbie Davis matches his intensity when she resumes the verse, then you can hear her briefly rein in the Fats Waller classic to set up a shared surge before the two blast it out to the song’s conclusion.

The Drive-By Truckers made their name with 2001’s Southern Rock Opera, but for a few years it seemed like Southern Rock Soap Opera couldn’t be far behind. With the exception of DBT lifers Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and long-time drummer Brad Morgan, the band’s lineup has always been in some kind of flux. From the mid-2000s until a few years ago, those changes threatened to weigh the band down.