A Lucero
Live From Atlanta
Liberty & Lament
"Ladies and gentlemen, from Memphis, Tenn., Lucero!"
So begins this sprawling double album from that band of denim-clad, tattooed misfits led by Little Rock native Ben Nichols. Covering 32 tracks in just over two hours and including songs from each of the band's nine studio albums -- from 2000's Attic Tapes to last year's Texas and Tennessee EP -- and recorded over three nights at Atlanta's Terminal West, it's the sound of a band 15 years into a career of constant touring behind songs about broken hearts, busted knuckles and blackout drunks.
Lucero has never taken anything for granted. They appear to relish every single moment of being onstage and that joy is palpable here. Opening with "I Can Get Us Out of Here," Nichols and crew lay down their well-lubricated mix of alt-country, Southern rock, barroom ballads and Memphis soul.
With the addition of horn section members Jim Spake and Scott Thompson, earlier songs like the tender "I'll Just Fall" and "Sweet Little Thing" take on a fuller dimension. Rick Steff's rollicking keyboards bring a honky-tonk vibe to "Like Lightning," and Nichols lines up two of his most personal songs, "Mom" and "The War," for a poignant stretch on the second disc that probably left very few dry eyes at Terminal West.
The recording is top-notch and the enthusiasm of the crowd is captured nicely (during one between-songs break someone hollers a request for "Raising Hell." "I can do that," Nichols mumbles and the band launches into the song. At another point someone -- bassist John C. Stubblefield? -- politely asks the crowd to stop chucking beer cans onstage).
We could quibble and wonder why only one song from Nobody's Darlings was included, but it's a minor snag. Live From Atlanta is a fantastic document of a band that is still vital, powerful and obviously having a blast.
At stores and online outlets today.
Hot tracks: "The War," "I Can Get Us Out of Here," "My Best Girl," "Union Pacific Line," "Women & Work."
-- SEAN CLANCY
B+ Jenny Lewis
The Voyager
Warner Bros.
Have you seen the video for "Just One of the Guys," the lead single from this new album from Jenny Lewis? It's smart and funny and pretty and says a lot with a modicum of fuss (even though it stars Kristen Stewart, Anne Hathaway and Brie Larson). The album is the same way.
Lewis tackles weighty subjects like the death of her father, mortality, sex and broken relationships, and wraps it all in melodies and arrangements that evoke Southern California evenings, Fleetwood Mac and her old band, Rilo Kiley.
Produced mostly by Ryan Adams, with an assist from Beck, the record is a warm, pop breeze.
Her keen eye and honesty make The Voyager so weighty beneath its gorgeous sheen. "Bet you tell her I'm crazy," she sings to an ex on "She's Not Me."
You almost feel sorry for the poor, unfocused doofus of "The New You" ("you struggle with sobriety/dreams of notoriety/listening to Kill 'Em All" might be one of our favorite lines of the year). Then there's "Late Bloomer" about a crush on a girl named Nancy that leads to a menage a trois and all the awkwardness that follows.
In lesser hands this would be a prurient lark.
It's not often that an album of such despair and confusion is also so clever and sly, but Lewis pulls it off beautifully.
Hot tracks: "Just One of the Guys," "Late Bloomer," "The New You."
-- SEAN CLANCY
B+ Spoon
They Want My Soul
Loma Vista/Republic
The Austin, Texas-born band Spoon's eighth album is a lush jangle of guitars, smart lyrics and catchy refrains that continues to set the band apart from other bands you're not quite sure you've heard of.
Therein lives the mystery of Spoon. They're just good enough to make a 20-year career out of music while producing albums and songs many have probably overlooked. That may not last much longer, thanks to a couple of standout tracks that are certain to be late-summer earworms.
"Do You" asks: "Do you want to get understood?/Do you want one thing or are you looking for sainthood?" The straight-ahead rock tune has a great pace and is delivered with matching emotion by electrifying lead singer Britt Daniel. "Outlier" has a modern feel with its dance-able backbeat and ghostly keyboard echoes.
To sound this fresh after two decades speaks to the band's smartness and savvy.
Hot tracks: "Do You," "Outlier."
-- RON HARRIS
The Associated Press
C- Shawn Mendes
The Shawn Mendes EP
Island
Over the past couple of years, Shawn Mendes, a baby-faced 15-year-old from Toronto, has bared his soul, especially on Vine, the microvideo application in which videos are limited to six seconds. He has 2.9 million followers there.
These videos reveal him as the teenager he is, a not-quite-formed talent who thinks vibrato makes him sound serious and falsetto makes him sound irresistible. There are tiny sparks of charm on "Show Me," a Jason Mraz-ish number. On "The Weight," a dark song about betrayal, Mendes' lyrics are tart and his voice aggrieved.
Generally this EP pitches Mendes as an emotional do-gooder. But for him to grow, he will need to return some of the good will he has been studiously earning.
Hot track: "The Weight."
-- JON CARAMANICA
The New York Times
Style on 08/12/2014