Lucero - 1372 Overton Park - October 6, 2009

[Rockstar Aimz]

I've heard it, but am still boycotting this thread because my copy has NOT come in the mail yet.....

Mine neither. Nor has anyone that I know in Ontario received there's. [grammar?] I e-mailed those bastards and said, what the fuck?

[Gas OJ]

I got my copy a while ago. I told Ben that I administered the site. Next thing I know, I had this guy dressed in brown knocking at my door.

[Gary Hâché]

AHEM!! Anyone else in Onterrible (excluding you OJ!) get their CD yet? Jeez...

[Rockstar Aimz]

NO! But I complained and I got this bullshit e-mail on Nov. 23. One of my blogging buddies in the UK didn't get his either.

Hello,

I am sorry for the late response. This has been a huge undertaking on our part, and to be truthful, I am the only one processing hundreds of orders, AND responding to emails like this. Tracking thousands of packages isn't easy, but yes, I should have gotten back to you earlier. I am very very sorry.

Having spoken with my boss several times about a certain batch of orders that went out, it is now safe to say that FedEx lost an entire batch. All the orders processed on this one date were lost by the post office, which is extremely unfortunate, because that means a lot of unhappy customers. When things are lost, I'm not immediately notified... no one is because they're lost.

We appreciate your business, and although this was/is an unfortunate circumstance, I am doing my absolute best to fix everything as best I can. We're reshipping tons of things, which means we're losing money in the process. But that's life.

Just wanted to give you a thorough explanation in hopes that you will reconsider our validity as an online store. This won't happen again and I am reshipping your package right now, even if you do want a refund...

Deepest, sincerest apologies...

Sam ... as always, here's the tracking info/confirmation:

Thank you for your Rebel Group order. Please note we have only PROCESSED your order. Your package WILL, again WILL, be shipped early next week.

Please allow 3-10 days for shipping. Please be patient, as we will be stuffing packages all week. There are also a few items on backorder so we GREATLY appreciate your patience. Any questions, please email us at Lucerowebstore@therebelgroup.com

Again, Thank you for your order!

In general, who usually handles CD distribution? Is it the label? The band's management?

[Sandusky]

I'll go ahead and say I hate about half this album. Too many throw away rockers and the horns beat my ear down when they're too obtrusive. But man if "Darling Do You Gamble?" doesn't warm my cbh. Also have mad love for "Smoke" and "What Are You Willing To Lose?" and "Can't Feel A Thing". I would love to find demos of all these songs without the brass. But even the Mats got the Memphis horn fever when they recorded PTMM and Lucero are still a fine fine band. The 4 mentioned songs have officially made their way to my Lucero Ipod mix. Damn if you go through their catalog since the eponymous debut you can't deny these guys have writ some killer country gems and rockers.

[FridayNightHasKilledMe]

"What Are You Willing To Lose,"..."Mom"...two of the best Lucero songs ever.

[VanLearRose]

Sandusky the more I know of you the more I see you are a man after my own heart. Those are my four songs as well - in fact there is not a word in your post that is not my sentiment exactly...except for the Mats thing which I know nothing about.

[Sandusky]

Sandusky the more I know of you the more I see you are a man after my own heart. Those are my four songs as well - in fact there is not a word in your post that is not my sentiment exactly...except for the Mats thing which I know nothing about.

Same here same here! I pretty much agree with your song-by-song rundown of the album too.

except for the Mats thing which I know nothing about

If you're a Lucero fan you need to hear the Mats. That song "Sixteen" is a straightup tribute to the band plus they do a righteous cover of the Replacements "If Only You Were Lonely" all the time on the road. Plus Ben lifts a lot from Paul Westerberg and would totally admit it. Plus Rollingstone (as irrevelant as it is) called "That Much Further West" the country album the Replacements never made. Their raw rockers and slow songs have a huge Mats influence. Many moons ago I sat at the bar with Ben Nichols (at the Nick in B'ham) and talked Mats/Husker Du talk so I can verify that he is indeed a pretty big Replacements fan (like that's not obvious duh).

[FridayNightHasKilledMe]

Sandusky the more I know of you the more I see you are a man after my own heart. Those are my four songs as well - in fact there is not a word in your post that is not my sentiment exactly...except for the Mats thing which I know nothing about.

Same here same here! I pretty much agree with your song-by-song rundown of the album too.

except for the Mats thing which I know nothing about

If you're a Lucero fan you need to hear the Mats. That song "Sixteen" is a straightup tribute to the band plus they do a righteous cover of the Replacements "If Only You Were Lonely" all the time on the road. Plus Ben lifts a lot from Paul Westerberg and would totally admit it. Plus Rollingstone (as irrevelant as it is) called "That Much Further West" the country album the Replacements never made. Their raw rockers and slow songs have a huge Mats influence. Many moons ago I sat at the bar with Ben Nichols (at the Nick in B'ham) and talked Mats/Husker Du talk so I can verify that he is indeed a pretty big Replacements fan (like that's not obvious duh).

If the Replacements got to record Don't Tell A Soul in the same way they did Let It Be, the results would be pretty similar to That Much Further West. That was Westerberg's tortured romantic album.

[Sandusky]

good point to the above! "West" is by far Lucero's most Matsy album (also why it's my favorite). "The Only One", "Mine Tonight", "When You Decided To Leave" and the title track are way matsy to my ear.

[Sandusky]

Don't Tell A Soul ...That was Westerberg's tortured romantic album.

yeah, in the CFMT doc all he says about the album when they come to it is "sad". Think this was a trying time for our St. Paul. Basically DTAS was the band's last album. ASD was Westerberg's first solo album in everything but name. DTAS was the band's last ditch effort to get popular. They were on the cover of Spin that year as "America's Best Rock Band" and did a big tour. I read somewhere Westerberg say that one problem with the album is back then all producers were trying to sound like the Cult--it is a syrupy sugary sound compared to the raw bombast of the previous 3 records. And I don't really love all the songs on DTAS. I could chop it down to an ep: "Talent Show", "We'll Inherit The Earth", "Achin' To Be", "I'll Be You", "Darling One" and "Rock N Roll Ghost" (I'd throw in "Portland" as a hidden track). That would have been a killer ep! But for me stuff like "Back To Back", "They're Blind", and "Asking Me Lies" was some of the worst crap Westerberg had ever done. He must have had writer's block pretty bad during this time. I've never heard him play "Back To Back" or even mention that song again. Same goes for "I Won't" or "Asking Me Lies". But man, "Talent Show" is the big hit single they should have had. Why oh why wasn't that song a world wide hit?

[FridayNightHasKilledMe]

Don't Tell A Soul ...That was Westerberg's tortured romantic album.

yeah, in the CFMT doc all he says about the album when they come to it is "sad". Think this was a trying time for our St. Paul. Basically DTAS was the band's last album. ASD was Westerberg's first solo album in everything but name. DTAS was the band's last ditch effort to get popular. They were on the cover of Spin that year as "America's Best Rock Band" and did a big tour. I read somewhere Westerberg say that one problem with the album is back then all producers were trying to sound like the Cult--it is a syrupy sugary sound compared to the raw bombast of the previous 3 records. And I don't really love all the songs on DTAS. I could chop it down to an ep: "Talent Show", "We'll Inherit The Earth", "Achin' To Be", "I'll Be You", "Darling One" and "Rock N Roll Ghost" (I'd throw in "Portland" as a hidden track). That would have been a killer ep! But for me stuff like "Back To Back", "They're Blind", and "Asking Me Lies" was some of the worst crap Westerberg had ever done. He must have had writer's block pretty bad during this time. I've never heard him play "Back To Back" or even mention that song again. Same goes for "I Won't" or "Asking Me Lies". But man, "Talent Show" is the big hit single they should have had. Why oh why wasn't that song a world wide hit?

Westerberg pretty much recycled the riff for "Back to Back" for "When It Began", imo a much better song. Live versions from '89 are pretty good. "They're Blind" is one of my favs from DTAS, different strokes I suppose. "Asking Me Lies" is the Mats go funk and there needs to be one genre experiment per record, so I dug it. "I Won't" rocks; don't see why others hate it. Basically, there's no song on DTAS I dislike greatly because even the lesser songs have a riff or a lyric that I really like. Ideally, "Back To Back" would be switched out for "Wake Up" (so the band could display a little bit of their punk roots), "Date To Church" for "Asking Me Lies", and "We Know the Night" would end up there somewhere. Having "Portland" as the last song to bookend with "Talent Show" wouldn't have been terrible either, but I like "Darlin' One" as a closer. DTAS is a pretty frustrated record, but, imo, the talent shines through. Maybe if Westerberg had given a spot each to Stinson and Mars, things would've turned out better for everyone. Or not. Who knows.

[Sandusky]

Maybe if Westerberg had given a spot each to Stinson and Mars, things would've turned out better for everyone. Or not. Who knows.

yeah, having "Satellite" on there would have rocked. Hmm the Tom Waits experiment kinda fizzles to my ears and although sometimes I'll play "Asking Me Lies" and "I Won't" mostly those tunes just grate on my nerves. "Anywhere Is Better Than Here" is another one I could do without. Good call on "We Know The Night" and "Wake Up". Was "Beer For Breakfast" and "Election Day" from this era too? Top those off with the wasted Dylan cover of "Like A Rolling Stone" and it shapes up into a solid record.

[Blaze]

I like "Anywhere". To me it's as good as "WOrld Class Fad".

[FridayNightHasKilledMe]

Maybe if Westerberg had given a spot each to Stinson and Mars, things would've turned out better for everyone. Or not. Who knows.

yeah, having "Satellite" on there would have rocked. Hmm the Tom Waits experiment kinda fizzles to my ears and although sometimes I'll play "Asking Me Lies" and "I Won't" mostly those tunes just grate on my nerves. "Anywhere Is Better Than Here" is another one I could do without. Good call on "We Know The Night" and "Wake Up". Was "Beer For Breakfast" and "Election Day" from this era too? Top those off with the wasted Dylan cover of "Like A Rolling Stone" and it shapes up into a solid record.

Not such what some peeps have against "Anywhere". Love the scream that kicks it all off and it's the only song that makes me think that the Mats as an arena rock band could've really worked if Westerberg applied himself to that direction. "Election Day" (one of my favorite Replacements outtakes) and "Beer For Breakfast" were both PTMM era, but their inclusion on DTAS would've been kick ass. "Election Day" especially as maybe "Beer For Breakfast" is too playful for the album's tone.

Honestly, I think DTAS was sank because it was an album that all the alternative kids weren't gonna like and they were the ones who'd take over the next few years. If a band like the Replacements made a similar sonic shift now, I feel like it'd be much more well-received because indie rockers are in love with the soft reflective stuff these days. If anything, DTAS would be too gritty in places.