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LUCERO'S FORCED BLUE-COLLAR COSTUME
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$216oz Hijh life Cans
$2 16oz PBR Cans
$12 Buckets Ol AH!!!
Jim Perldns
$3 Martin! Madness
nrernre carnal
Live Music after with Wesley Cook
$3 Well Drinks All Night!
Scott Little Band • $3 Bombers
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NFL Games during the day...
Live Music later with Passafire
$2 Domestics • $3.50 Jack Daniel’s
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All the Games PLUS $2 Domestics!
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$8.95 All-You-Can-Eat Wing Bar
(idckoff-Halftime)
$3 Sam Adams Pints • $4 SoCo & Lime Shots
Buy a Dozen Wings. Get a Dozen Free!
(6-10pm • Some restrictions may apply.)
Karaoke with Extreme Entertainment
$2 Domestic Bottles & $12 Buckets
312 E. Washington St • 706-227-WING
www.wlldwingcafe.com
There's a scene in director Dan O'Bannon's 1985 zombie satire
film Return of the Living Dead where a group of hammy teenagers
breaks into a derelict graveyard to get a party started. Clothing
is removed and property is damaged as the kids dance on graves,
naive to their impending fates at the hands of the living dead.
The leader of the pack is a sentimental but hardened punk rocker
named Suicide with an exaggerated sense of sincerity and a funny
haircut. As the youths party on, the angst-ridden Suicide reins
them in by grabbing hold of his punk attire and shouting, “You
think this is a fuckin' costume? This is a way of life!" Much to his
dismay, his peers just keep partying with youthful abandon.
On many levels, the scene resonates as a metaphor, summing
up the career path of the Memphis, TN alt-country good ol' boys
in Lucero. Since the late '90s, the group has crafted a dirty white
twang-and-dang while fostering a reputation as one the harder-
working bands in indie rock.
The music is a celebration of trailer park honesty; a celebration
of having bad credit, bad beer and had luck. And indeed, bad luck
has followed Lucero every step of the way—between 2001 and
2006, the group worked its way into the alt-country pantheon by
banging out seven full-length albums and one compilation of rare
tracks. A brief run with the currently "on hiatus" indie label Tiger
Style forced the group to revert to releasing material on its own
Liberty and Lament imprint. But is the music really deserving of its
cult popularity?
THE LITTLE BAND THAT COULD?
The kind of dedication and perseverance the group has shown
over the years is most certainly worthy of some sort of “little band
the could” award. The problem is that the records the group keeps
churning out are so utterly dull and offensive that enduring an
entire album becomes an unwitting experiment in trailer park com
edy. The group's latest offering, Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers.
is chock-full of so much exaggerated earnestness that each song
demands an instant playback to fully grasp the bad lyrics that
frontman Ben Nichols coughs out.
“Her daddy lost most everything on horses, whiskey and wed
ding rings," from the song "Mountain" is a particularly striking ex
ample of this. The musicianship displayed throughout the song is
a competent, Memphis-boogie take on country and Southern-rock
sensibilities. But when wrapped around such laughable lyrics, one
expects a guest appearance from David Cross playing the part of
Ronnie Dobbs or vocals.
Nichols' voice adds yet another level of difficulty to the music.
His hoarse groan scrapes like gravel boiling in a pot of grits and
chicken fat. Does it hurt your throat to sing like that?
This of course adds another dimension to the inflated sincerity
that guides songs like "The Weight of Guilt" and *1 Don't Wanna Be
The One." Nichols' voice falls somewhere between Bob Seger and
Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness taking a stab at emo-style
fortitude. To the outsider, it sounds like a mess, but the group is
incredibly focused on its direction. Even when belting out such
horrible lines as "You were mine. 1979, just skin and bones. Your
favorite dress, motorcycle boots, raised on rock and roll,” the
group shows no sign of wincing.
FOR THE FANS... OF FASHION
In Aaron Goldman's documentary film about Lucero, Dreaming
in America, Nichols speculates on the band's future, stating, "I
don't know if we'll ever be as big as someone like Wilco, but I
think we could do it." Whether Lucero will ultimately rise above
the ir.die level is impossible to predict. But the group has har
vested a substantial crop of rabid fans.
Much like the zombies in O'Bannon's Peturn of the Living Dead,
Lucero's followers reach out with desperate, grabbing hands, mak
ing a spectacle of themselves at every performance. But rather
than lusting for brains, these folks stumble and clamor for a ho
mogenous community, a clan, and for Budweiser, PBR or “whatev
er's the cheapest beer you got," an actual quote from a bar patron
at a recent Lucero show at The Earl in Atlanta.
The diehard Lucero fan is easy to spot. They come to the shows
dressed in denim both above and below the waist. They have a
trucker cap perched on their heads and colorful arm sleeve tat
toos. The band T-shirts are perhaps the most telling piece of at
tire. These folks have drawn a line in the musical sands, and for
them it's either going to be country or metal; Merle Haggard or
Mastodon, which is a truly fascinating palette.
These people are sincere in their wardrobe choices and acces
sories. which is a true reflection of Lucero's songwrit’ng. The songs
are meant for that oh-so-difficult to grasp 19- to 32-year-old mar
ket. These are post-college age types who are transitioning from a
lifetime of being obnoxious Southern drunk rockers into adulthood.
The trucker hat and tattoos arer. t a kitschy costume anymore; this
is a way of life! And they're trying so hard for authenticity! But
the costume's as pre-fab and fashion-driven as any of the neo
goth, hippie or punk "movements."
Rebels. Rogues and Sworn Brothers stands as a testament to the
lifestyle. The album kicks off with a song titled "What Else Would
You Have Me Be?"—it serves as much more than a heartfelt ballad
of whiskey-soaked love and woe. but a mantra; a battle cry declar
ing that the folks in Lucero are keeping it real the only way they
know how. What else could Lucero be? Perhaps the group could
just be... quiet?
Chad Radford
Lucero is playing with Maritime and Drag The River at the 40 Watt Club on
Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tickets cost $10.
30 FWGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 29,2006 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS 1 MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
ADAM SMITH