Nobody's Darlings
If you could melt vinyl copies of the Stones'Exile on Main Streetand Lynyrd Skynyrd'sSecond Helpingand reform the wax to create one record, it might sound something like this one by Lucero, the Memphis foursome which enlisted the renowned Jim Dickinson (Big Star, The Replacements) to produce its fourth release. Led by a dual-guitar framework and the double-bourbon-on-the-rocks vocals of Ben Nichols, who manages to balance the lucidity of Jay Farrar with the garbled tongue of Shane McGowan, the band effortlessly melds its Southern rock trappings with pure punk riffs. While ballads such as "Hold Me Close" and "Nobody's Darling" are invigorating, the band's calling card lies in muscle-bound rockers like "Noon As Dark As Night" and "Watch It Burn." Nichols can belt out believably about a first time in love ("Sixteen") or being drafted to war ("The War") with equal aplomb to tipping back a few too many ("Last Night In Town") or bailing out of Dixie for the West Coast ("California").--Scott Holter