All a Man Should Do

メンフィス出身のオルタナ・カントリー・パンクバンド、ルセロによる3年ぶりの新作!米ロックバンド、ビッグ・スターのジョディー・ステファンズがゲスト参加!今作は、2012年の『Women and Work』に次ぐ作品で、ヴォーカルのベン・ニコルズ手がけた中で最も深い歌詞が特徴。それはまるで彼の人生の章を読んでいるかのようで、双対関係、年齢を重ねること、そしてこの世界において存在したい場所など、内容は様々だ。3度目の起用となるプロデューサーはTed Hutt (オールド・クロウ・メディスン・ショウ、フロッギング・モリー )。今作では控えめでありながら力強いサウンド作りにも挑戦し、決して音で歌詞の内容を消し去ることはせず、音があることによって歌詞に命を吹き込むような作品に仕上がることを心がけたという。さらに、バンド至上初となるカヴァー曲も収録。そのビッグ・スターの「I Fell in Love with aGirl」は、実際にビッグ・スターのジョディー・ステファンズがバック・コーラスとして参加している豪華な仕上がりになった。

Sometimes a man wants to rock out, and other times he wants to sit back with a beer and think about where life has been leading him. Lucero are clearly in the latter mood on All a Man Should Do, which is the most subdued and contemplative album the Memphis-based band has delivered in some time. The songs and the performances are no less passionate than Lucero has ever been, but while this band usually hits like a Dixie-fried fusion of Bruce Springsteen and the Replacements, All a Man Should Do is an album about reflection and even remorse, pondering love that's gone wrong ("They Called Her Killer," "Baby, Don't You Want Me") and places and people that are no longer what they used to be ("Went Looking for Warren Zevon's Los Angeles," "Woke Up in New Orleans"), and the introspective middle-of-the-night feel of these sessions rings as true as the band's most rollicking material. The raspy twang of Ben Nichols' voice never sounds anything less than honest, especially on this material, and Rick Steff's piano and keyboards take a larger place in the arrangements here, with his emphatically placed notes adding just the right high lonesome accent. And if this doesn't always sound like full-on rock & roll, the muscular R&B groove of "Throwback No. 2" and the distant thunder of "Can't You Hear Them Howl" are on hand to remind us these guys haven't gone soft. (They also manage that rare feat of covering Big Star and finding something new in the song with their version of "I'm in Love with a Girl," which features backing vocals from founding Big Star member Jody Stephens.) Saying All a Man Should Do is a more mature effort from Lucero sells short the street smarts and emotional wisdom of their previous work, but this album does find the fine band reaching for something different, and they hit their target with skill, assurance, and clarity. ~ Mark Deming|