Customer Reviews

Nobody's Darlings

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Maybe it's because all their songs remind me of when I got in a fight, got drunk, fell down, fell in love, fell outta love, wore a leather jacket, looked at books on motorcycles, enlisted, traveled the south, moved to California, got a tattoo, bought a guitar, smoked cigarettes, had whiskey for breakfast, ate desert lizard and watched the road to nowhere unfold in front of me. Or maybe it's because these guys sound like ZZ Top's first album on every one of their albums. Whatever it may be, it's what good
rock n roll is suppose to do: Rock, and remind me of all the good things I've done.

Lucero never lets a man down. Whether I am driving to nowhere or drinking myself retarded, these guys provide my soundtrack. I've made an ass of myself so many times to so many girls after getting drunk and listening to this CD. If you get a chance to see these guys live, do what you can to take it. Not to be missed. They played a 2 1/2 hour set last time I saw them. There isn't a harder working band out there right now.

Can these guys do no wrong?

Four and a half stars. As they evolve more toward raw rock and away from their country leanings, Lucero return with another ass kicking album of raucous rockers and beer-soaked ballads. Nichols communicates longing and heartache with a gravelly force of nature voice that makes you almost smell the alcohol on his breath.

Not as great as their last two, but as great as their first eponymous album.

This is real music made by real artists. Nichols' gift for penning melody combined with the band's muscular delivery continues to astound.

Keep it up fellas. You guys deserve to be famous.

Ben has an amazing talent for lyrical explination.. These guys are creating new sound while managing to hold onto their roots in the SOUTH....Just behind Old 97s, Lucero is bound for glory!

I start at track 4 and crank it up!!!! All the Same to Me is one of my favorite songs. Nichols rocks!!!

i love this band. the first time i heard a song by them i was in my friends car. i can't count the number of times i've been in someones car and heard a song i liked and errantly asked who we were listening to, but this time i remembered. later on it turned out we were listening to 'my best girl', which continues to be my favorite song.

all that being said, this wasn't my favorite album, but it has it's high points. i'm in the military and i don't think theres a better single song to describe the feeling of leaving again and again than 'last night in town'. one of the things i love about this band is their unashamed reverence for the military. even with all of the support some of the population shows us, it's still a pretty rare thing to see people in the public eye come out swinging and not say they're sorry about it. songs like 'joining the army' and 'the war' are moving.

this album was a departure (slightly) from their previous sound, but admit it...bands that never change their sound start to bore people. i look forward to seeing how they adapt and change while holding on to that southern fried grit.

i've missed many a chance to see these guys due to deployments and plain bad timing, but first chance i get when i get home, i'll be front of the house holding a glass up.

drink it up boys.

Lucero being one of my favorite bands doesn't hurt this review, but Nobody's Darlings is their best album. Excellent southern rock with a distinct punk-rock vibe with all the power chords and crunch. Good stuff from cover to cover. Motorcycle Riders is just the best.

Great album.

Personally, I think this is better than "That Much Further West", which was my previous favorite Lucero album.

This one is just really raw (Watch it Burn, Anjalee, And We Fell, Noon as Dark as Midnight, Last Night in Town) and pretty rockin'.

I'm not much of a reviewer, but I'd definitely suggest picking this album up. A nice combination of raw rock 'n' roll and heartbreaking country. Ben Nichols really knows how to sing this stuff.

Beautiful.

well, i put off reviewing this because i thought it would maybe sneak up on me and wow me with it's subtle brilliance. but if it hasn't happened by now, it probably never will.
i think we can safely say now that there are 2 categories of lucero: old and new. which is fine. "that much further west" was fantastic, so i'm not complaining. but with "nobody's darlings", i feel like there's just no passion here. the songs seem too one dimensional and incomplete. the only exceptions might be "bike riders" and "noon as dark as midnight". but neither of those are as unforgettable as some of the past classics.
they steered further away from any "country" leanings here, and while i think they are fully capable of doing that and making a great record, this isn't it. it just falls flat. i had read that they sought out someone that they very much respected for production here, and that they had a unique recording experience. i don't know if any if that is to blame, but these 12 songs just feel stoic. the record doen't "go" anywhere.
in fact, despite listening to this record for a few weeks now, i can't even recall how tracks 7, 9, 10 and 11 go at all. instantly forgettable. and while "war" is a decent song, it feels like the first draft, longwinded beginnings of what became of "joining the army" (TMFW), and too predictable and boring an ender.
i'm not giving up on this band, they just seem to have forced a mediocre record. and as much as they were on tour since TMFW came out, maybe i shouldn't be suprised. to those unfamiliar with lucero, i'd recommend starting with any of their previous records instead (barring maybe "attic tapes"). here's hoping they come back strong.

Review by Ray Harkins:

Something just doesn't feel right when the word "country-alt" rolls off of someone's tongue when used to describe a band that falls under the indie/punk/hardcore umbrella that we all hold so dear. It feels like you just admitted that you bought the new Dave Matthews band disc, which everyone knows is a crime in and of itself (but I guess 450,000 people didn't think so and bought that record the first week).

Lucero feels right in that way when you first take off your shoes after a long day at work. Familiar and comfortable, these gents from Tennessee (yep, they are not posers) took many people by surprise when their 3rd full length That Much Further West garnered them in the middle of a major label bidding war after winning over the hearts and minds of kids that were into Senses Fail as well as Lucero.

Nobody's Darlings is their major label debut (on their own imprint of East West) and unfortunately, it falls surprisingly flat. It sounds like someone just had them deflated in the recording studio and never bothered to pick them back up. Notwithstanding, the song quality is still outstanding and still retains that grit and candor that Lucero has made themselves known for.

The bottom line with this record is that Lucero still shows they have so much untapped potential that is unfortunately not all realized at once on tape.