Music Monday: Lucero's Women & Work

Lucero's latest album, Women & Work, is the Memphis group's ninth studio album. And what an album it is...

Women & Work is a great follow up to 1372 Overton Park. W&W keeps with the soulful rock vibe that 1372 created. W&W also has a great throwback to some of their earlier albums. Think earlier as in The Attic Tapes and their self-titled Lucero album. Some of the opening riffs just throw me back to their older, and simpler, albums. It also reminds me of the point in life I was at when I first listened to these albums. When you hear the opening riffs that remind you of songs from ten years ago, you can't help but remember where you were the first time you listened to the album. The first time that album was new.


Who but Lucero would be able to have an album described as "like Arcade Fire baptized in Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's Mad Dogs, then warmed with Don Nix's Alabama State Troopers." It only seems fitting that such a complicated band with such a distinct sound can only be described as such. When you learn that W&W is a love letter to the band's hometown of Memphis, you can see the love that these boys have for their hometown. Anyone that has ever spent any time in Memphis can see just how perfectly this cliche fits. Memphis itself is a blend of country, rock, and soul. Who better could have captured everything Memphis is and put it all into an album? From songs like "On my way Downtown" to the title track "Women and Work" to "Go Easy" you can almost see Memphis. The full gospel choir as backup vocals in "Go Easy" only emphasizes the fact that this is all in honor of Memphis.


W&W does return more to their country roots and is not nearly as rock 'n' roll as 1372, but it still rocks. The poetic lyrics that everyone loves from Ben are still there. The substance created by 1372 is still there. This is still the Lucero that we all love. Yet, something here seems to be a bit... Expected. And I don't ever expect Lucero to put out an album that leaves me wanting more, but I did after the closing track. There is something a bit generic that seems to have crept into the sound of W&W. It doesn't make the album bad per se, but I felt like this was a bit of a plateau and the beginning of the end of their more interesting and unique albums. Because that is one of the things I love about Lucero, no two albums are really alike.

I will still listen to this album and I still love it. I think it's an album that many people will love and will be loved for years. If you don't have it, definitely go out and buy it (or download it).