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. ~ Stewart Mason