Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

It's always a happy day in Athens when the Drive-By Truckers release new music, and today the group has shared "Surrender Under Protest," the first single from its anticipated upcoming album, American Band.

The record, out Sept. 30 via ATO, is the follow-up to 2014's English Oceans.

English Oceans saw guitarist and songwriter Mike Cooley taking on a more prominent role than on the band's previous few releases, and the Cooley-penned "Surrender Under Protest" continues that thread. It's the singer's best individual effort in years, and one of the group's more exciting singles in recent memory.

Stream the song, which is lyrically inspired by the Confederate flag debate that followed the South Carolina church massacre last year, via NPR.

Though the Truckers don't have any Athens shows booked at the moment, two of the band's members will play in town soon: Keyboardist Jay Gonzalez will perform at Hendershot's this Saturday, June 25 as part of the AthFest Club Crawl, and singer-songwriter Patterson Hood—who recently decamped from Athens to Portland, OR—will play the 40 Watt Aug. 11.