Recap Lucero at Turner Hall

Just as 1372 Overton Park, the latest album by Memphis-based country-punk rockers Lucero, is the band’s most polished finished record to date, Thursday’s show at Turner Hall exhibited a new sense of maturity and (dare I say it) professionalism. And, no, that’s not a bad thing. Taking full advantage of a horn section, a slide guitar player, and a keyboardist, Lucero opened its set with 1372 Overton Park number “Sounds Of The City,” which roared with life as all of the extra elements came together.

Older songs also benefited from the presence of additional players, including “Last Night In Town” from 2005’s Nobody’s Darlings, which sounded downright anthemic when the horns ushered in the chorus. The big-band slickness of the new Lucero did occasionally trample the emotional immediacy of some tunes, like “That Much Further West,” but the band’s back catalog for the most part has never sounded better.

Once content to burn through a set as quickly as possible, Lucero now takes its time, allowing mid-tempo numbers like “Can’t Feel A Thing,” “Joining The Army” (which made excellent use of the steel guitar), and honest-to-God ballad “Goodbye Again” to provide moments of much-needed respite from the arena-rock barrage.

Yet the raspy drawl of vocalist Ben Nichols kept the band from ever sounding too polished. Nichols is sort of a Southern Blake Schwarzenbach, a comparison driven home by Lucero’s propensity to cover Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle” in concert (which, thankfully, it did Thursday night). Nichols, like Schwarzenbach, isn’t the most technically proficient singer around, relying instead on sheer emotion to deliver often-devastating tales of lost love.

Listening to Nichols work through the band’s latest material, it’s clear he’s not content simply being an underground hero. He appears to be setting his sights much higher, hoping for a place among such luminaries as Paul Westerberg and even Bruce Springsteen. Will Nichols’ name ever be mentioned in the company of such legends? It’s probably too early to tell, but it will be a whole lot of fun watching him as he continues to climb his way up.