POISON SCOOTER

Lucero - Rebels Rogues and Sworn Brothers

The new Lucero album was born out of blood, sweat, tears and a hell of a lot of whiskey. Jack Daniels is quite the collaborator, so it seems. Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers, set to be released on September 26th, invokes the spirits of Springsteen and Mellencamp while staying true to the Lucero sound. Opening with "What Else Would You Have Me Be" Ben Nichols sings a tale of love gone wrong in the heartsick, raspy way that Lucero fans have come to love, pleading "I gave you everything I stole / and you stole your heart away from me".

Nichols once teased that he has penned "60 songs about girls and 2 about my grandfather," and he does not stray far from this lyrically in Sworn Brothers. What separates this album from the rest of their catalog is the introduction of piano throughout. Simple, sparse moments of beautiful piano melodies are peppered here and there, and create quite a consistent theme to the whole album. Again, the album takes you back to the Americana tone of Little Pink Houses or Born in the USA, as corny as it may sound. This album is completely lactose intolerant--no cheese here. Lucero has made it work, and work well.

Other standouts (and it's hard to pick a standout because the whole album kicks ass) are: "1979"; "San Francisco"; "I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight"; and sure to be a new live show favorite "She's Just That Kind of Girl".

You can preorder the album through Lucero's Website or wait until it is released later this month.

posted by jooliepoison @ 6:33 PM