I can't recall the first time I heard Lucero, nor can I remember the first time I heard about them, but I can narrow it down to sometime between the start of September 2007 and 7th December 2007. The first date is when I moved to Cardiff, and the second is when I saw Lucero for the first time. It's probably slightly more narrow than that, because I don't really remember anyone mentioning Lucero the first month or so I was in Cardiff - I think I just started hearing their name more and more - and I bought the ticket in advance, so I definitely knew about them before I saw them.
One of the nice things I found when I lived in Cardiff was that when there was a buzz about a band, that buzz really travelled around everyone I knew. I remember when that buzz was about Chuck Ragan, and I have some memories of the buzz about Lucero. They played Le Pub in Newport that December with Kevin Devine and Tournaments supporting, and everybody I knew was going. I think there ended up being six or seven of us on the train down that night. Sadly, the first time I saw Lucero was a night I don't really remember that well; fittingly, I was quite drunk. The 7th of December 2007 was also my work Christmas party, and we'd had the afternoon off for a meal and drinks. I snuck off about 8 and met my friends at Cardiff Central, got changed on the train, and continued to drink at Le Pub. I'm pretty sure we missed Tournaments but saw Kevin Devine. I don't really remember his set at all, which is a shame because I went on to be quite a fan of his solo work and of Miracle of 86. I also remember very little of Lucero, except a general feeling of enjoyment.
Luckily, Lucero came back to south Wales the following year in May, and I saw them (much more sober) in Clwb Ifor Bach. They were excellent, and a few slight memories of the December show came back to me. As it happens, that evening was also double-booked, as Jonah Matranga was playing just around the corner in the Barfly. Luckily, the curfew on the Lucero show was really early, so we had time to head over and catch Jonah (Hugh knew the guy on the door who let us in for free - Hugh's band were playing there soon, so it was on the premise that we were going to hand out flyers for that show). I ended up bumping into a colleague there having not realised he was a fan beforehand, but that's drifting off topic.
Anyway, a month before that Welsh Clwb show I picked up this reissue of Lucero's first LP, The Attic Tapes, whilst on holiday in Boulder. I found it in Bart's CD Cellar on Record Store Day. I was keen to pick up any of their albums, but this was the only one I found. The promise of a limited edition bonus 7" convinced me further. It's a pretty lovely package too; on top of the original nine songs, there's three bonus tracks on the 12" and another two on the 7", and a booklet full of notes by Brian and Ben. Musically, it's a bit slower and stripped back than some of their later recordings (as they mention), but I guess that's the nice thing about it being some old home 4-track recordings.
My personal favourites are Into Your Eyes, In Lonesome Times, A Heart so True (a great break-up song) and the cover of Jawbreaker's Kiss the Bottle on the 7". The other song on the 7", My Best Girl, is a love song to a guitar, and would sound ridiculous if it wasn't sung so sincerely.
My Lucero LP collection still has many holes, but I hope to fill them before too long. They're a great band and I'm pretty excited to see them at Fest soon.
Format: 12", 7", booklet
Tracks: 14
Cost: £7.04 new
Bought: Bart's CD Cellar, Boulder
When: 18/04/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
