Springsteen Cover Fever Hits Vampire Weekend, Eddie Vedder This Weekend

Man, Bruce Springsteen's announcement of his wicked cool Darkness bonanza of goodies box set last week seems to have everyone excited and paying homage... On Saturday, Vampire Weekend played in Vancouver and covered "I'm Goin Down" from 1984's Born in the USA....



...and Eddie Vedder pulled out a long-favorited chestnut from Springsteen's backlog of treasures called "Open All Night" in Little Rock, Arkansas the same night. (Eddie are you wearing tap shoes, how you making those noises with your feet??)



Though written for 1982's Nebraska, "Open All Night" was one song Springsteen did here and there, performing it only 30 times since its inception (and probably a majority of these were during his mid-90s acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad shows). It started to make a big comeback with his 2006 Seegar Sessions band tour. (See here for more fun facts.)

As you can tell from the crowd response in this 9/1984 show in Philadelphia, PA it's always been a crowd favorite. And Springsteen always tells these long stories before it, so he must dig it too. Hey ho, rock n roll, deliver me from nowhere...

Give a Listen: Open All Night-Bruce Springsteen (The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, 09/14/84)

Earotica:1372 Overton Park-Lucero Review

With fall here, music writers are starting to ponder the choices for their lists of best new releases of the year. The more I think about mine, the more I can't see another record coming close to Lucero's latest, 1372 Overton Park which dropped yesterday.

Why?

Every other release I've listened to this year, after a few listens, I feel like I've heard all it has to say. While there may be a couple standout songs that stay with me, there’s not enough to keep me listening to it in full. However, 1372 is busting with 12 songs that will all most definitely stay with you, that will lure you in with their catchy sounds and keep you wanting to hear them over and over. And each time you hear it, you’ll discover something new that will make you fall in love just a little more. Be it one of lead guitarist Brian Venable’s great guitar hooks, the enthusiastic “Yeah, Yeah!” ad-lib in many of the songs by lead singer/guitarist Ben Nichols, or any of the horn arrangements from the legendary Memphis sax player Jim Spake, 1372 is a record that swirls and swings with wild abandon; so just try to resist the urge to dance.

"Wait, horns on a Lucero record," you ask? Yes, Virginia, there are horns and they provide the perfect complement to Lucero’s brand of country-fried punk. 1372 is like a celebration of love to all the ways Memphis has impacted Lucero’s music. From horns and bluesy keyboard riffs to the soul-tinged rock songs with gospel back up singers and the ghost of Elvis hovering nearby ("1372 Overton Park" in Memphis is actually the address of the band’s long-time practice space/residence that served as a karate dojo back in the day when Elvis Presley took lessons there), 1372 is so Memphis that it should have come packaged with a sample of Corky’s Smokin’ Hot.

As I listened through for the Nth time, something else struck me: Ben Nichols’s singing and songwriting have really gone up a level on this record. When I interviewed Nichols awhile back, we talked about his famous gravel –and-cigarettes timber and he said he’s noticed his voice has become stronger over the last 10 years with Lucero. It really shows on 1372, there’s a lot more clarity of Nichols' voice within the raspy growl. Maybe it was the result of writing songs around characters from a famous novel, but Nichols’ songwriting for this record has become much more emotional and alliterative, paying a name-check homage to loves (Replacements records) and likes (“The Devil And Maggie Chascarillo” is from Los Bros Hernandez’s Love And Rockets comics series). The songs are so visually described that you can’t help but picture the scenes he sets in your head, like mini-musical vignettes. And if you see the band live, keep an ear out for a great song that didn't make 1372, "Lonesome Dogtown Nights."

1372 is Lucero’s sixth release and their first since 2006’s Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers. During that time, members have had children, houses have been purchased, new members have been added, and big labels came a’calling. Is this a more mature Lucero? Probably not, I mean, this is Lucero after all. But maybe it is a Lucero who’s been able to find a happy medium between its road dog side and its hometown side, and celebrate the hell out of where they’re from and who they are now.

Give a Listen:
-The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo-Lucero
-Lonesome Dogtown Nights (live at Ottobar, Bmore, MD, 2-5-09)-Lucero

(Lucero's 'Memphis Revue & Ramblin Roadshow' tour kicks off tomorrow with a free show in Memphis, TN. See the rest of the dates here.)

Seen Your Video: "Darken My Door," First Video Off Lucero's 1372 Overton Park Released

Lucero's first release in three years, 1372 Overton Park, comes out 10/6, and from already seeing many of the tracks performed live, I can assure you it's going to be an amazing listen. Tour dates for the 'Ramblin Roadshow and Memphis Revue' as the tour is called, start back up in earnest on 10/9, and best of all, shows will include a full horn section onstage, something they've never done before! (See the list of tour dates here).

In anticipation of Overton's release, the band held a little contest for fans to make and submit videos for each of the new tracks, and the first one, "Darken My Door," was released last week. It's...interesting... to say the least, and includes one seriously messed up and brokenhearted puppet. Something really neat about it though is that a lot (maybe all?) was filmed in and around DC; keep your eyes peeled for landmarks like Ben's Chili Bowl, the National Mall, and what I'm pretty sure is the upstairs bar of the Black Cat.

Darken My Door from Lucero on Vimeo.

New Lucero Album Presale Starts Wednesday

Our favorite drink-till-we're-gone band from Memphis, Lucero, is starting a presale tomorrow for their upcoming release, 1372 Overton Park, due out officially in October. The neat part is that, much like lead singer Ben Nichols solo release, The Last Pale Light in the West, they're offering an immediate digital download of some of the new record's songs if you purchase the record via presale. Want to make sure you like the record before buying? They're streaming it in full here (requires Quicktime application).

Lucero will be touring for 1372 Overton Park this fall.