Lucero - Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

January 11, 2017

Lucero - Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

I learned about Lucero from one of my best friends. He showed me the song "My Best Girl" which is a song about a guitar. I instantly fell in love so I searched for a lot of their other music. Lucero is very rough, gritty, and raw. Although they are so unpolished they are fantastic in some way. The lyrics and songwriting are just so flawless and real that you can't help but love it. When you hear Ben's voice you would expect it to come from some down and dirty old guy but instead its from a skinny middle aged man. There is so much power behind his gravely unique chops you have to at least stop and listen for a minute. I will be honest, this is the only Lucero album I have listened to fully through and it is great in my opinion. This album is less country and more rock so I am anxious to listen to their other albums. This album starts out really "punky" and "gritty" but towards the back end of the album it gets softer. Regardless of how "soft" the album ends up getting it is always going to still be somewhat gritty just because of Nichols' voice. You can tell when the instrumentals start to shift to a softer mellow tone. I think I actually like it more when it gets softer just because it lets Nichols' vocals shine more. My good friend that loves Lucero told me that when Lucero first started the songs were suppose to only be made with a few simple chords, because that's all they knew. I don't know if its true or not (I have no reason to believe its false. It seems like the guitar is somewhat simple.) If it is true then that makes me love the band even more that they can make great songs with little technical skill it makes you relate to them more. If you like folk alt country music then this will be down your alley. After you get used to Ben's voice you can really start to appreciate the voice and the music much more. I give this album 🌉🌉🌉🌉🌉 out of five. Extravagant!

Favorite Tracks!

1. She Wakes When She Dreams
2. San Francisco 
3. Sing Me No Hymns

I do not own any of the pictures or songs associated with this review. All rights belong to Lucero, and Liberty & Lament records.

http://www.luceromusic.com/site/