SONG OF THE DAY: "What Are You Willing to Lose?" by Lucero

So, this SotD is an hour late or so, but whatever, I've been busy all day. Deal with it. Lucero is one of the better bands in the history of music, and they deserve about 40 SotDs. But, they'll just get one for now, and I'll see if I can justify adding another 39 SotDs about them in the future.

Lucero, at its simplest, is an alt-country band, somewhat similar to Drive-By Truckers, Two Cow Garage, and Glossary. The only difference is, they combine country and rock-n-roll way better than any other band. The band started out by playing country songs in front of punk audiences with the sole intention of pissing off the crowd, but the fans seemed to like what they were doing, so they kept writing songs and playing shows. For eight years and five albums, they existed largely in the country/rock genre, but their 2009 album 1372 Overton Park broke them out of that mold for once and for all.

With 1372, they introduced a full horn section and a decidedly Memphis soul sound which was used to perfection. It's hard to find any faults with that album. The songwriting, the musicianship, and the arrangements are all damn near perfect. Other than the song "Sixes and Sevens," which tends to get on my nerves, I find almost nothing wrong with the album.

"What Are You Willing to Lose?" is the second track on 1372 Overton Park, and it is probably the most rock-oriented song on the whole album. The horns pop up here and there to accent the music, but the song itself is just awesome. Singer Ben Nichols' voice is on point, even after all the whiskey and cigarettes, and the lyrics are creative and fun. If this song doesn't get you singing along by the second or third chorus, then you might need to get your taste of music checked, because this song is untouchable. Check it out below!