Lucero: "Women & Work" (album review)

Country rockers Lucero have elbowed their way back into the musical conversation with the release of their new studio album Women & Work. The record is the hard-working, dust-up we've come to expect from the Tennessee outfit.

Things get underway in a hurry.  After whetting our appetites with an energetic introduction, the band burst out with a full-on honky tonk groove on "On My Way Downtown".  They don't let up as the slickly-produced, horn-driven title track proves to be infectious.  Later, "Like Lightning" is an absolutely raucous affair.


Of course, Lucero are at their best when they get gritty.  They certainly do their share of that on the dirt road rocker "Juniper", and the mid-tempo "It May Be Too Late".

An organ swirls throughout "Who You Waiting On?".  It almost feels as the song is dragged back and forth through the air by the organ.  In the end, it's the same kind of feeling you got the first time you heard The Wallflowers' "6th Avenue Heartache".

Lucero serve up an offering to their more sensitive fans with the introspective "Sometimes".

While nothing on Women & Work can be considered groundbreaking for Lucero, the album does see them tighten things up and provide a confident, professional product.

Lucero plays Lee's Palace in Toronto on April 14th.


Best tracks: "On My Way Downtown", "Juniper"

Track listing for Women & Work:

• Downtown (Intro)
• On My Way Downtown
• Women & Work
• It May Be Too Late
• Juniper
• Who You Waiting On?
• I Can't Stand To Leave You
• When I Was Young
• Sometimes
• Like Lightning
• Go Easy

7.5/10