1372 Overton Park

Release Date: October 6, 2009

Label: Universal Republic Records

Lucero's sixth studio album and major label debut, 1372 Overton Park, is produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem) and featuring horn arrangements by legendary Memphis session player Jim Spake (Al Green, John Hiatt, Solomon Burke, Cat Power), the record marks a decided turn toward the Memphis soul sound that has long informed the band's records from afar. 1372 Overton Park follows the band's 2006 release, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers, hailed by Pitchfork as "the best showcase for the band's taut dynamic yet." The new album's name comes from the address of the Memphis loft in which all four band members lived, practiced and even recorded portions of their 2003 release That Much Further West (the history of the space itself is even more colorful-- in the `70s, 1372 Overton Park was a karate dojo where local resident Elvis Presley, among others, took lessons). Over recent years band members have gradually moved out leaving lead singer and guitarist Ben Nichols the sole resident of the space until word finally came down that the building would be sold and demolished. Almost as if marking the end of an era not only for the building but for the band as well, this record turns the page and signals a strong move toward the Memphis soul sound that has long served as an influence for the group. Nichols explains, "When [saxophonist] Jim Spake put that first horn track down, we began thinking of the record as having a certain sound. We heard pieces of Memphis history being played over our songs and it floored us and we just went with it." While 1372 Overton Park serves as a love letter to Memphis and its musical heritage, the band has far from abandoned the country/rock/punk influences that they've become known for over their previous five records and countless tour dates in front of rabid fans. "I think the fact that we don't claim a genre is very important to what Lucero is," according to Nichols. "There are too many rules in punk rock. Too many rules in country music. We're hard headed and...god damn if we don't do things the way we want to do them." Playing between 150-200 live shows a year, Lucero has come to be known as much for their hard-touring work ethic as for their critically acclaimed records. In addition to his work with the band, lead singer Ben Nichols also released a solo record in early 2009 and co-stars in MTV's $5 Cover, a series about the Memphis mus

Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

Release Date: September 26, 2006

Label: Liberty & Lament

Lucero have never been short on Replacements comparisons, which are still very much valid on Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers, but this time around they come off more like the Memphis version of Bruce Springsteen -- in the best possible way. This comparison is heard straightaway in the opening "What Else Would You Have Me Be?," and the subsequent music largely continues its loose and jangly feel, many songs rocking out in the tradition of those on 2005's Nobody's Darlings. However, thanks to the contributions of auxiliary player Rick Steff on nearly every track -- switching between organs, accordion, and piano -- the overall record sounds fuller and is more immediate than much of Lucero's past work. These extra touches cause rousing songs like the shimmering "I Can Get Us Out of Here" to be more triumphant, and the whiskey-soaked and weary homecoming of "On the Way Back Home" more affecting with a lonely accordion softly lamenting in the background. As always, frontman Ben Nichols owns the type of hapless charm that can simultaneously break your heart and fix it, his weathered voice like that of a close friend over six strings. The prominent interplay of rugged guitar and drums makes for a wholly gripping listen on darker cuts like "Sing Me No Hymns" and "The Weight of Guilt." Both match up compellingly with the gruff Southern drawl of Nichols, who douses his hoarse delivery in a hard-edged defiance that sharply cuts through the unusually threatening air, especially in the latter song with its challenging repetition of "If you can bear no cross, you can wear no crown." Reflections of love, regret, and longing dominate -- whether missing the girl while out on the road or making drunken promises when she's close enough to kiss -- yet Lucero's leathery alt-country melodies never forget that stirring balance of tenderness and toughness, heartache and wonder. It's that balance that ultimately makes Lucero so damn likable, and their music so damn good that you can't help but want to dance, sing, and drink along right there beside them all night. (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

The Attic Tapes

Release Date: April 11, 2006

Label: Liberty & Lament

Prior to the release of their first album for Madjack Records in 2001, Lucero recorded a laconic nine-song album on a cassette Portastudio in Brian Venable's attic, which the band released though the local Memphis label Soul Is Cheap. It didn't take long for the album to sell out, and the disc became something of a collector's item until Lucero reissued it in 2006. Fans who dig the Replacements-style rock & roll side of this band will probably find this a little low-key for their tastes -- at the point when The Attic Tapes was recorded, Lucero still had an occasional fiddle player, and these nine tunes creep along with the ambition of a hangover, while the hissy homemade quality of the recording is just a shade distracting in spots. But at the same time, most of the elements of what would make this band memorable were already firmly in place -- the gritty howl of Ben Nichols' voice and the broad spaces of Venable's guitar leads had already defined themselves, and the group's songwriting proudly wore the dusty resonance of life in the South, which speaks strongly on "Diamond State Heartbreak," "Hello Sadness," and "Took the Fall." Listening to The Attic Tapes, you might not have guessed that Lucero would soon mature into a crackerjack rock band, but at this early stage they already had talent and vision to spare, and fans will find this rewarding listening. The 2006 reissue on Liberty & Lament adds three early demos, an early recording of "My Best Girl," and a cover of Jawbreaker's "Kiss the Bottle." (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

Dreaming in America (CD & DVD)

Release Date: October 11, 2005

Label: Liberty & Lament

Flying by the seat of their pants, Southern indie rockers Lucero have eked out a career in music despite never receiving a royalty check from their first record company and watching their second label close its doors right as the band was getting hot. Add a charismatic, heartfelt ruffian as lead singer, a never-ending tour schedule, and a Replacements-like show that's brilliance on the brink of drunken disaster, and you've got one heck of a story. Inspired by films like D.A. Pennebaker's Don't Look Back, filmmaker Aaron Goldman captures life on the road with Lucero on Dreaming in America, a well-put-together documentary that pulls for the band without becoming an electronic press kit. The first half of the film focuses on the band stuck in cult limbo while the second half deals with an odd opportunity that allows Lucero to become part of the Warner Bros. family without selling their souls or master tapes. The deal finds Lucero forming their own label, Liberty & Lament, and tying it to the Warner-related East West company in a relationship where either party can walk away "intact." For the non-faithful, the first half of the film dwells a bit too much on how these guys should make it, how their fans are zealous, and how much they're just like the Replacements with a Jim Dickinson-produced album and lyrics about liquor stores in the moonlight. Sticking with it pays dividends, as this rough-and-tumble, "never sell out" band comes to terms with the idea of any relationship with a major label. Watching the bandmembers struggle with the idea is fascinating, as their firm explanations for why they did it slowly become internal debates in front of the camera, but everyone agrees they couldn't have kept going they way they were very much longer. For fans, this is a no-brainer, but for anyone interested in a more beer-stained, "get in the van" version of the Wilco biopic I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Dreaming in America is worth a look. [A special edition of Dreaming in America was also released with a bonus CD filled with 14 well-chosen, well-recorded, and rousing examples of Lucero in concert.] (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

Nobody's Darlings

Release Date: May 24, 2005

Label: Liberty & Lament

Lucero's Nobody's Darlings is the sound of the Replacements, 20 years later, a little more sober, and from Memphis instead of Minneapolis. In other words, the band's occasional feints toward country music and electric blues come off with a lot more credibility and just as much enthusiasm. Just like the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me, Lucero's seventh album is produced by local legend Jim Dickinson, but where some longtime Replacements fans thought Dickinson polished off a few too many of the 'Mats' rough edges, there's a loose, live feel to Nobody's Darlings that's in keeping with the rest of Lucero's catalog. Singer Ben Nichols is the band's best asset, and while his occasionally hoarse but always heartfelt vocals owe a lot not only to Paul Westerberg but to Social Distortion's Mike Ness, he's a better than average lyricist who covers the same ground as a hundred other rock & roll dudes -- "And We Fell" is the inebriation song, "California" is the frustration song -- but with enough regular-guy charm and occasionally sharp lines to keep from fading into the garage rock woodwork. (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

That Much Further West

Release Date: March 23, 2004

Label: Tiger Style

With a sound that references Bruce Springsteen, the Replacements, and Whiskeytown, Lucero have crafted the Great American Rock & Roll Record -- a true blue album that has much more to do with Southern rock than revivalists like the Kings of Leon. It's full of Western sprawl, the grit and wonder of the open highway, everyday dreams, and the promise in a starry sky. Ben Nichols' Arkansas rasp is the perfect country-rock voice -- jammed with experience and heartache, and he lets all this out, whether on the anthemic title track or the shimmering, bittersweet "Across the River." As with Uncle Tupelo, Lucero play country music, but they do it with the attitude of punk and the energy of good ol' rock & roll. It makes for an intoxicating dynamic on brash numbers like "Hate and Jealousy" or the set's standout rocker, "Tears Don't Matter Much." "I'm just a Southern boy who dreams of nights in N.Y.C.," Nichols belts, but Lucero could never be just another New York City band -- after all, it's their ties to the great music history of where they're from that make the band so genuine. (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

Tennessee

Release Date: September 24, 2002

Label: MADJACK

Ben Nichols, leader of Memphis alt-country rockers Lucero, claims he had never heard of Uncle Tupelo back when he traded in his punk stripes for a more roots rock sound. While this may sound like typical rhetoric from upstarts trying to avoid being cast into the alt-country ghetto, Tennessee, the group's sophomore outing, is strong enough evidence to back up that claim. Listening to this defiantly organic and strong release, one gets the sense that Nichols adopted a countrified sound simply because it seemed the shortest path to the heart. The album is packed with leather-tough Americana such as "Nights Like These," -- which is all guitar-crunch, rolling B-3 organ, and Nichols' hot-tar emotive rasp -- and the gliding, melodic country-rock of "Ain't So Lonely." There are also plenty of ruminative, bruised numbers on the album, such as "Sweet Little Thing," which eventually bursts out of a stark verse to reveal a Replacements-style hear-tugging rocker. The songs get a big kick in the pants from Nichols' vocals; he's a raw singer in the tradition of Steve Earle, Paul Westerberg, and Matthew Ryan. Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars -- who also happens to be the son of legendary producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, Replacements) -- produced this album and added keyboards. (Review courtesy of All Music Guide)

Lucero

Release Date: May 22, 2001

Label: MADJACK