Showing posts with label Lucero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucero. Show all posts

Jan 3, 2024

Farce the Music's 30 Favorite Albums of 2023


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1. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Weathervanes

I haven’t “loved” a Jason Isbell album since Southeastern, and didn’t really expect to feel that way about one again. Sure, almost everything he and the group have released has been critically beloved and well executed, it just hasn't affected me the same. That said, I love Weathervanes. Everything feels more natural and unforced than the previous few records; right in the pocket you might say. Every song has its own personality, yet fits right into place in the collection. The highs are stratospheric, and the lows aren’t lows - just letting off the gas a little. For the politically sensitive, any supposed ideologies only color the stories this time. There’s no telling, just showing - and that’s always hit me a lot harder than any expression of opinions could ever do. Weathervanes is damn near perfect, and for me, a welcome “comeback.” Favorite tracks: King of Oklahoma, Cast Iron Skillet, When We Were Close, Miles. 



2. Lucero - Should’ve Learned by Now


3. William Prince - Stand in the Joy


4. Gabe Lee - Drink the River


5. Deer Tick - Emotional Contracts


6. Bully - Lucky for You


7. Ruston Kelly - The Weakness


8. Charles Wesley Godwin - Family Ties


9. Margo Cilker - Valley of Heart’s Delight


10. Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder


11. Lori McKenna - 1988


12. JD Clayton - Long Way From Home


13. Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat in the Rain


14. Whitney Rose - Rosie


15. Drayton Farley - Twenty on High


16. Amanda Fields - What, When and Without


17. Willie Tea Taylor - The Great Western Hangover


18. The Steel Woods - On Your Time


19. The War & Treaty - Lover’s Game


20. Jason Hawk Harris - Thin Places


21. Brent Cobb - Southern Star


22. Sundy Best - Feel Good Country


23. Brit Taylor - Kentucky Blue


24. Jake Stringer - Just Happy to Be Here


25. Shaker Hymns - The Highway & The Boulevard


26. Brennen Leigh - Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet


27. Jeffrey Martin - Thank God We Left the Garden


28. Colby Acuff - Western White Pines


29. Colter Wall - Little Songs


30. Jaime Wyatt - Feel Good




Tied for #31

 Joe Stamm Band - Wild Man, Muscadine Bloodline - Teenage Dixie, Will Johnson - No Ordinary Crown, Ritch Henderson - Fallacies & Four-Letter Words, Treaty Oak Revival - Have a Nice Day, Joy Oladukun - Proof of Life, The Wilder Blue - Super Natural, Country Westerns - Forgive the City, Vincent Neil Emerson - The Golden Crystal Kingdom, Bella White - Among Other Things, Low Water Bridge Band - Back to the Valley, John R. Miller - Heat Comes Down, Nicholas Jamerson - Peace Mountain, Meg McRee - Is It Just Me?, Jake Worthington - s/t, Jason Eady - Mississippi, Jamie Harris - Boomerang Town, Tyler Childers - Rustin’ in the Rain, The Band of Heathens - Simple Things, Killer Mike - Michael, Metallica - 72 Seasons, Lance Roark - Better Man, Van Plating - Orange Blossom Child, Slaid Cleaves - Together Through the Dark, Brandy Clark - s/t, John Baumann - Border Radio, Ashley McBryde - The Devil I Know, Mason and the Gin Line - Sangre,  The Pandhandlers - Tough Country, Dallas Moore - No God in Juarez, Del Barber - Almanac, Summer Dean - The Biggest Life, Marty Stuart - Altitude, Erin Enderlin - Bar Room Mirrors, Margo Price - Strays, Zach Bryan - s/t, Will Payne Harrison - Tioga Titan, Jessye DeSilva - Renovations, Channing Wilson - Dead Man, White Reaper - Asking for a Ride, and like 20 other albums.





Dec 21, 2023

Farce the Music's 40 Favorite Songs of 2023


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1. Lucero “Macon if We Make It”
I’d never call it a comeback, but Lucero’s last album, When You Found Me, was very disappointing for this hardcore fan. The exploration of classic and somewhat progressive rock left me flat - I don’t blame them or slight them for following their artistic leanings anywhere they want to go - it just wasn’t for me. The new record, Should’ve Learned by Now, is an absolute return to form. My favorite song of the year, “Macon if We Make It” is a rip-roaring, country-tinted heartland rocker of an anthem I can’t wait to sing along with at shows. If this was a best lyrics list, this song would not be here, but sometimes it’s about what you do with them, and Lucero gave us their heart and soul and made it catchy as hell.



2. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit “King of Oklahoma”
What more can be said about this one? Everybody has their own thoughts on Isbell and his music, and to be honest, I was of the thinking that he’d never make another album I thought was a masterpiece. I was wrong. Weathervanes is amazing, and “King of Oklahoma” rides a bullet into the stratosphere of Isbell/Unit classics. Conversational, timely, and dropping in a smidgen of dark humor, “KOH” will be on the setlist for years to come.



3. William Prince “Tanqueray”
The dude with the smoothest vocals in Americana/Canadiacana? music nailed his 2023 album, and this tune fought off “Easier and Harder” and “When You Miss Someone” to be crowned as my favorite.



4. Joe Stamm Band “Dollar General Sign”


5. Bella White “Marilyn”


6. St. Paul & The Broken Bones “Magnolia”
If you don’t like this song, you should try sex.


7. Cory Branan “Gatlinburg” (song starts at 1:20)


8. Gabe Lee “Merigold”


9. Charles Wesley Godwin “Family Ties”


10. Lydia Loveless “Summerlong”




12. Turnpike Troubadours “The Rut”


13. Deer Tick “The Real Thing”




15. Chris Stapleton “The Bottom”


16. Metallica “You Must Burn!”




18. Caitlyn Smith “High”


19. Zach Bryan, Maggie Rogers “Dawns”


20. Lori McKenna “Happy Children”




Next 20 (Unranked)



Jake Worthington “Closing Time”


Ashley McBryde “Learned to Lie”


Esther Rose “Chet Baker”




Miles Miller “I Wish”


Lance Roark “Better Man”


Old Crow Medicine Show “Daughter of the Highlands”


Tyler Childers “In Your Love”


The War and Treaty “Dumb Luck”


Jason Hawk Harris “Roll”




Whitney Rose “Can’t Remember Happiness”


Flatland Cavalry “Only Thing At All”


Jaime Wyatt “Love Is a Place”


Colby Acuff “Western White Pines”


Jeffrey Martin “Sculptor”


Brandy Clark ft. Brandi Carlile “Dear Insecurity”


Lillie Mae “Razor Love”


Brennen Leigh “Mississippi Rendezvous”


Willie Tea Taylor "Bakersfield"




Dec 13, 2023

What Your Favorite Album of 2023 Says About You #2


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Lucero - Should’ve Learned by Now

You have a Lucero sticker on your Honda Pilot. You look like someone who should be avoided in a dark alley, but you’re actually a tattooed sweetheart of a person. You can’t relate to people who think sad songs kill the mood. You’ve got your eye on a small RV to buy and follow Lucero around, once the kids move out.

 



Brent Cobb - Southern Star

You’re a good ol’ boy or girl, I don’t care what anybody says. You’d rather chug-a-lug a mug of beer than sip a crystal glass of wine. You’d rather discuss the latest goings on of World Wrestling Entertainment, but can easily have a conversation about Eudora Welty or foreign relations. You have a couple crooked fingers as evidence of your bar fighting days, but you’ve chilled out. 




Morgan Wade - Psychopath

You don’t like mainstream country; Spotify played Morgan after a Paramore song and you were smitten. You are prone to stalking exes on social media when you get a few drinks in you, but not in a creepy way - you just wanna talk shit. You drive like a bat out of hell, and that turns your significant other on for some reason.




Tyler Childers - Rustin’ in the Rain

You reflexively like Tyler even more now that many conservatives say he “went woke.” This is a good album, but that first sentence may have clouded your judgement a bit. You own a Subaru. You tried morel hunting for the first time and ended up having to get rescued by the game warden, so your friends now call you the Kane Brown of Americana fans.




Morgan Wallen - One Thing at a Time

Your favorite burger is the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. Your favorite book is 50 Shades of Grey. Your boyfriend’s ex has a restraining order against him. You’re not really into politics at all, but vote however your friends do. You spent $1820.34 on tea this year and $0 on vehicle maintenance. 




Ryan Bingham - Watch Out for the Wolf


You got into Ryan because of Yellowstone. This is the first Ryan Bingham album or EP you’ve ever heard. 




Jelly Roll - Whitsitt Chapel

You don’t know what hick-hop is. Fuel was your favorite band in the 90s. You think Jelly Roll’s redemption story is wonderful, but you don’t really want to know what crimes he did because then you might have to stop liking him. You could never get into Yellowstone because the music was so boring. Your stepkids call you by your first name, with an attitude. 




Kelsea Ballerini - Rolling Up the Welcome Mat

TMZ is your favorite news source. You tell people this is your favorite album of the year because you stan, but in your heart of hearts, you wish she’d go back to the pop sound of a few years ago. You live for every TMI detail of Kelsea’s love life and are glad she moved on from that last dude, because he isn’t as big a star as her. 



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