Confession: I’ve never listened to Lucero until tonight. I have no idea why. They’ve played Chicago at least three times in the past six months, even at a festival that I had a ticket to but didn’t make it to the second night. You’d think I was avoiding these guys or something! Well damn, they’re good. Eric over at Can You See The Sunset From The Southside has been saying this for quite awhile, I should have known. He never steers me wrong.

Even though I’m categorizing it as “alt-country,” usually an insult in my book, I’m only doing so because I don’t want to make an entirely new category for just one band. Lucero really play what I think should be called “cowpunk” and if or when I find myself wanting to blog about other bands with that sound, well… you’ll see it! I do kinda like cowpunk; I don’t know why it never occurred to me that this was what Lucero were up to. And yeah, I know somebody will go off in the comments section about how categories don’t matter… but they do, they actually really do to some of us. Sorry for that, I guess I’m that shallow, haha! (this is all coming from a twitter conversation from the other day, just move along… nothing to see here)

This song is so completely American sounding to me; I guess I’ve been listening to a lot of UK music lately so the difference is glaring. I like that. And the video has the same effect. The band commissioned a series of videos from fans, one for each song on the album. Here’s the details on this video:
“Robert Archer, a Southern California music producer of 8 years, shot a video for “Johnny Davis” that defines the “live fast, die young” motto often burned into the flesh of young rockers. Featuring original art by local tattoo artists, the video depicts a young man as he cruises the highway, receives a particularly bad ass tattoo, and ultimately meets his end in an unfair fight when his opponent pulls a gun.”

Lucero’s new record, 1372 Overton Park is on its way to me and I’ll let you know lots more about what my virgin ears think of these boys, xoxo

pre-order it here, directly from the band

Johnny Davis from Lucero on Vimeo.
Tour Dates
# October 9 Cannery Ballroom Nashville, TN
# October 10 The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
# October 11 The Pour House Charleston, SC
# October 13 Cats Cradle Carrboro, NC
# October 14 The National Richmond, VA
# October 15 9:30 Club Washington D.C.
# October 16 Starlight Ballroom Philadelphia, PA
# October 17 Webster Hall New York, NY
# October 18 The Middle East Cambridge, MA
# October 20 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON
# October 21 The Magic Stick Detroit, MI
# October 22 Turner Hall Milwaukee, WI
# October 23 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
# October 26 Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins, CO
# October 27 Ogden Theater Denver, CO
# October 29 The Crocodile Seattle, WA
# October 30 Hawthorne Theatre Portland, OR
# November 1 Mezzanine San Francisco, CA
# November 4 The Casbah San Diego, CA
# November 5 The Clubhouse Tempe, AZ
# November 7 Longhorn Saloon Ft. Worth, TX
# November 8 Fun Fun Fun Fest Austin, TX
# November 9 Meridian Houston, TX
# November 10 Alabama Music Box Mobile, AL
# November 12 Club Down Under @ Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
# November 13 Czar Tampa, FL
# November 14 Lizzie McCormick Stage Orlando, FL
# November 15 Cafe Eleven St. Augustine, FL
# November 17 Visulite Theatre Charlotte, NC
# November 18 40 Watt Athens, GA
# November 19 Valarium Knoxville, TN
# November 20 Orange Peel Asheville, NC
# November 21 Headliners Louisville, KY