With only two prior albums to their credit, a sixteen-song retrospective may seem premature. Then again, this is the group's tenth anniversary, those albums having come out back in the '90s. A few tracks appear on CD for the first time; a few songs have been re-recorded; three more saw the light of day only on compilations. Commander Cody's "Daddy's Drinkin' Up Our Christmas" is one of two Christmas songs. Leading this cult band from Portland, Maine, is singer-songwriter Scott Link, with Charlie Gaylord on electric guitar. In spite of the group's name, and a good one it is, not all of the songs evoke the pungent smell of diesel as vividly as "18 Wheels Of Love", "Thin White Line" and "My Girlfriend Is A Waitress". The group takes its cues from roots-rock as much as country, but a few songs, such as "If I'd Shot Her When I Met Her (I'd Be Outta Jail By Now)" and "I'd Like To Quit Drinkin' (But I Live Over A Bar)", are pure honky-tonk in spirit, albeit in a twisted sort of way. Diesel Doug formed his group the year Dick Curless died. That seems fitting somehow.
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