New Ben Nichols (Lucero) solo: "The Last Pale Light In The West"

Ben Nichols of Lucero has a gravelly, urgent voice full of hard wilderness. I cannot fully tell you how excited I am by the fact that his new solo album The Last Pale Light In The West is inspired by the Cormac McCarthy book Blood Meridian, which I coincidentally just started reading last week. McCarthy is one of my favorite authors, and Nichols has the chops to compose the perfect atmospheric soundtrack to his writing.

STREAM: The Last Pale Light In The West - Ben Nichols

The seven song "mini-LP" was recorded this past summer with Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero) and Todd Beene (Glossary), and will be released January 2009 via Liberty & Lament / The Rebel Group.

In full band news, the formidable Lucero [previous lavish Fuel/Friends love] has signed to Universal, and they'll be heading into the studio to record music for their 6th studio LP at the end of 2008, which is scheduled for release in summer 2009.


[Top photo credit the fantastic Denver photographer Todd Roeth]

Ben Nichols (of Lucero) and The Gaslight Anthem cover Johnny Cash

Today marks the release of All Aboard: A Tribute To Johnny Cash, featuring The Gaslight Anthem and Ben Nichols of Lucero in a one-two punch, along with artists like Chuck Ragan, Dresden Dolls (featuring Franz Nicolay of The Hold Steady) and a variety of other punk/indie/Americana bands. Some artists I've not previously heard of, but they do the songs an interesting turn. Aside from a few missteps, in general the rough edges of this collection suit the songs well.


LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM

TRACKLISTING:
1. Man In Black - The Bouncing Souls
2. Country Boy - Fallen From The Sky
3. Wreck Of The Old ’97 - Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music)
4. Let The Train Whistle Blow - Joe McMahon (Smoke or Fire)
5. Delia’s Gone - Ben Nichols (Lucero)
6. God’s Gonna Cut You Down - The Gaslight Anthem
7. Cocaine Blues - The Loved Ones
8. Give My Love To Rose - OnGuard (feat. Jason Shevchuk of Kid Dynamite and None More Black)
9. I Still Miss Someone - Casey James Prestwood (Hot Rod Circuit)
10. Hey Porter - MxPx
11. Cry, Cry, Cry - The Flatliners
12. Ballad of a Teenage Queen - The Dresden Dolls feat. Franz Nicolay of The Hold Steady
13. Folsom Prison Blues - Chon Travis (Love = Death)
14. There You Go - The Sainte Catherines
15. I Walk The Line - Russ Rankin (Good Riddance, Only Crime)

Bonus Track/Vinyl only: Delia’s Gone (Alternate Version) - Ben Nichols (Lucero)


All proceeds benefit the Syrentha Savio Endowment for underprivileged breast cancer patients; we can all rock for breasts. That seems like a pretty unifying and worthy cause. Buy the album for ten bucks on Anchorless Records.

Also, good neighbors take note: Ben Nichols and Chuck Ragan are playing (along with Tim Barry, Jon Snodgrass and Austin Lucas) tomorrow and Thursday nights in Colorado as part of this "Revival Tour." Hallelujah.

I can get us out of here tonight

A friend of mine told me I should check out the new song from Memphis alt-country rockers Lucero over at Muzzle of Bees, and it has just made my musical month.

This is an advance track from Lucero's upcoming September release Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers, and I will have a hard time waiting until then to hear the rest of this album. Not to shortchange Lucero with endless comparisons, but to me it's like the best signatures of a young, urgent Springsteen written all over this song. When Ben Nichols sings "I can get us out of here tonight," it's that same burning twinge that Springsteen makes you feel in your soul that makes you want to throw caution to the wind, roll down the windows, and take off on the interstate.

I Can Get Us Out Of Here Tonight - Lucero

Gritty rock-guitar riffs pair with a thumping drumbeat that wildly echoes your own on that first date, with vocals that capture that manic raspy quality of Westerberg. While it doesn't exactly compare with the poetic perfection & richness, the lyrical imagery echoes some of my favorite Springsteen creations like the dancing across the porch of "Thunder Road," all the madness in my soul of "Born to Run." There's a sweetly-named girl (Jenny, Wendy, Mary, irrelevant), a fast car, and a need to escape.

Listen at 3:41 when the electric guitar cuts out, leaving just the sweetly nostalgic piano and these lyrics:

"Jenny lights her cigarette, wonders how she got in this mess
Saturday night, wrong side of town
Set em up, knock em down
Well come on babe, don't look so sad
You know it ain't half that bad . . ."

The way he sings it, I am in love. "Don't look back, don't hesitate. The car's outside, we can't wait. . . I can get us out of here tonight." Let's go. The night's busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere.