LUCERO
Tennessee (Madjack Records)
Reviewed by Holly Day

---

Kind of predictable bluesy, country rock stuff about girls and love and things like that. I kind of like the instrumentation here, especially the twangy guitars and the barroom piano and the awesome banjo plucking, but the vocals don't really interest me. Singer Ben Nichols sounds too much like what this kind of band is supposed to have as a lead singer, all gravely-voiced and raw like he's been gargling with whiskey and broken glass, but without the wonderful richness that singers like Johnny Cash and Tom Waits and other gravelly-voiced singers I like have. The songs are also way too wordy for the little they actually have to say, but again, that could just be because I'm not fond of the lead singer's voice.

© 2003 - Holly Day