BEN NICHOLS > The Last Pale Light in the West

Augmenting literature rarely pays off. But this organic concept album is a self-commissioned soundtrack to Carmac McCarthy’s bleak 1985 novel Blood Meridian-proves a compelling companion piece. Like McCarthy, Nichols produces vibrant and virile prose. “In my veins, black pitch runs,” Lucero’s frontman sings on the title track.Label: REBEL
[Rating: 3.5 STARS]

Augmenting literature rarely pays off. But this organic concept album is a self-commissioned soundtrack to Carmac McCarthy’s bleak 1985 novel Blood Meridian-proves a compelling companion piece. Like McCarthy, Nichols produces vibrant and virile prose. “In my veins, black pitch runs,” Lucero’s frontman sings on the title track. “In my way, a setting sun.” The album succeeds as a stand-alone piece, too: The steel-warbling “Davy Brown” and weather-beaten “Chambers” equal all the fists and fury that Nichols injects into his fiery rock outfit. It’s stark and acoustic, growling and robust. Rate four stars a full-length this wholly engaging