With touching songs about life the simple way it is and the big feelings it comes along with this record really found its way into my heart. But the funniest thing is the way I got this piece of vinyl. I bought it from Renke’s Zeitstrafe distro, to whom I had lend the tape of the very album that I had been given by the merch guy of Against Me! at their show in Bremen when I asked him what it was and he replied, he didn’t know but I should just take it. At home I found out that I missed his Hamburg appearance that had been just a few days before I had been give the tape and that some people I know were even friends of his from the times he used to tour with punk bands instead of simply his acoustic guitar. I was stunned.

Even more stunning is the quality of this record. There is so many punk rockers who try to play country music nowadays and most of them are average or worse but this got quality. Every single note makes clear that Mr. Lucas really knows and loves what he is doing. It is not enough to write pop songs and play them on country instruments. It takes more and this ‘more’ is what makes the difference between this jewel and the heaps of lukewarm attempts out there. And the glued in photo in the cover is so great! One of the best records this year.  [jan]

www.myspace.com/austinlucas1