Though they may have seemed like totally different worlds, the juxtaposition of punk, folk music and alternative country have intertwined into a genre as no one could have foreseen. And carrying that flag for the last two decades is Lucero, from Memphis, TN. Among the Ghosts is Lucero’s 12th record and certainly a notable one in their discography, laden with deeper storytelling and an overall darker tone. It doesn’t have those wild Lucero drinking songs, horns, or honkey tonk anthems, but rather intricately woven stories of characters in the American South. The tone is more along the lines of frontman Ben Nichols’ 2009 solo record The Last Pale Light in the West than songs like Tonight Aint Gonna Be Good, or Bikeriders. That said, it’s an excellent album full of emotionally driven songs of a Civil War soldier’s hymnal letter to his wife, tales of midnight smuggling runs and righted relationship wrongs. ~ Written by guest contributor: Jon Coen
