So let me sum up Lucero for you: They took the spirit of the Replacements, placed the heartfelt lyrics of Sunny Day Real Estate, the D.I.Y. eithics of Dischord Records and the whiskey drinking of the deep south, shook it all up and made a band. This basically should be enough for any person to realize that they should take their fingers out of their ears and stop bitching about stupid ideas like "punk rock" and what not and listen to one of the best bands that has come out within the past decade.

The record starts out with "Sweet Little Thing," and this sets the record off on a tangent of songs that can't but help pull at your heart and make you need a night to drink it all away. The disc then moves into the next standout track, "Nights Like These," that perfectly depicts the way one feels when they have finally realized that what they have: love, friends, family, anything that holds a deep bond within your soul and the loss of the closeness that was once felt. Another favorite is "I'll Just Fall," which shows us that need a night to just get away, release your mind and just fall out on the floor and replace your mind with thoughts of how you're going to get home in the morning. No matter where you are.

This record, compared to their most recent releases such as That Much Further West and Nobody's Darlings, is more of a self-deprecating record of anything else. This is not their best overall release. This is not their masterpiece. This record is not meant to be the record that revolutionized the world. This record is a collection of songs that you can listen to late nights when you are depressed, drunk, down and have nowhere else to turn. Ben Nichols has personified the feelings of loneliness and heartache and pain that one feels for longing and hatred of a close relationship. If you are looking for the songs that Lucero has perfected into "their sound," these are the signs to the early beginnings of that. They all follow a common theme: liquor, loss, and love, and I swear, sometimes that's all you need.