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  Border
Crossing is a duo comprised of a couple of choice Idaho spuds named
Steve Brown and Brad Thompson. Their debut release was a live CD
of one of their spirited café performances, which showed
their penchant for close harmony, goofy wit and also hook driven
songs, some of which were quite serious and elegant and almost belied
the humor so evident in their stage manner and in some of their
sillier songs. If you had Simon and Garfunkel songs performed by
Abbott and Costello you might have an idea of how they can come
across.
Stuff & Things is their first studio recording, and while it
does a good job of further arranging their music beyond just their
voices and acoustic guitars, and adds some terrific new songs not
included on the live album, it does make me realize that I prefer
to hear these guys live, with their funny banter and the slightly
looser feel of the music. Some bands have always had the predicament
of not being able to quite capture their live feel and energy on
their studio recordings, and that may be the case with Border Crossing.
But if anything, hearing this album should make you want to catch
them live, or to also pick up their live CD, so it still serves
up their music very well.
Stuff… starts off with the upbeat, bouncy "Emerson Park",
and its choruses about life being ugly but also fun and beautiful.
Some squirrely trumpet and bright acoustic chords evoke the feeling
of a sunny day at the local park.
"What I See in You" has sweetly arpeggiated acoustic guitar
that reminds me of that Ozzy and Lita Ford song, but thankfully,
the comparisons to that song end once Brad starts singing. This
song features some nice counterpoint harmony and shows off the smooth
blend of their voices. Both have natural tone and singing styles,
and I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone's voice that they remind
me of, which is a very good thing. Steve has the stronger voice
in general, but Brad has a nice softer edge to his singing and a
gentle touch of vibrato at the end of each phrase, as if his voice
were running through a Leslie. But back to the song… The repeats
of "what I see in you" go on a bit long after a while,
but this is an example of what works better live, as I would probably
appreciate the different turns and lengths they take that phrase
to more in a live setting, and it could probably go on even longer
in that case.
"King of Prussia" is a cool, laid back folk-rock song,
with some slide guitar warbles setting off more pleasing harmonies,
as they sing about not finding a fortune in Richland and realizing
that Freedom, Indiana has a jail.
Next up is a cover of the Macca classic "Eleanor Rigby",
done as a fiery upbeat number, where they somehow manage to capture
The Edge's electric delay guitar style perfectly without using delay
or an electric. This is also reminiscent of some of the Dead's faster
minor key jams. Strange thing about this is that I prefer this song
for the music, incidental to it's being a cover of the Beatles song.
As a cover, it's kind of "meh", but musically, it really
smokes (er, what's a good Mormon substitute for that expression?
"Really cooks?").
"The Other Way Around" is a mellow and melodic charmer
reminding us that sometimes seeing is believing in the signs that
we've already found, and sometimes, it's the other way around.
The rest of the album includes some more upbeat, BNL style contemporary
songs ("Fly", "I'll Be the One", "Mr. Campbell"),
moodier numbers ("Drive", "Path of Least Resistance",
"These are the Days"), a jangly, mandolin-soaked Grateful
Dead tinged anthem ("Down by the Riverside"), and a couple
of very funny songs; "Lenny the Noodler", an ode to a
legendary catfish and the man who lived to catch it, complete with
Hee Haw harmonies, Snoopy on the jaw harp and a paraphrase of "Devil
Went Down to Georgia"; and the disturbingly wise "Happy
Little Duck", which is about a happy little duck who learns
that well… some things should never meet. That's all I have
to say about that.
A little bit about one other song… "Better" is one
of the best songs I've ever heard, and alone made this album a 'must
have' for me. In the vein of Mike and Mechanics' "Living Years",
this is about appreciating your parents while they're still around,
and I think it even tops that song in terms of evoking the right
images and also having an incredibly catchy hook. The arrangement
is flowing and easy, with mandolin and harmonica offsetting the
capoed guitar figure, and the last lyric verse is a real killer
without being sappy. This song is Helen Hunt and I'm Jack Nicholson,
in that it makes me want to be a better man. And if you know what
I'm referring to, the feeling you had at that moment in that film
is probably what you'll feel as the final verse of this song unfolds.
It's really that good.
Production-wise, the album is pretty solid, but just a little bit
uneven. Some songs are better realized and produced than others,
and once in a while one or the other's vocals don't seem to be mixed
loud enough. Fifteen tracks may have been a bit many, especially
with five of them over five minutes, and some of the songs work
better than others in general. I would say that stylistically it's
a bit disjointed, but with a title like Stuff & Things, they
can get away with that. But all told, there's a heck of a lot of
good stuff here, and many good things, too, including several gems
and one bonafide diamond in "Better".
One thing that is so gratifying to hear is that every song has a
hook, and oftentimes even the verses and bridges are very memorable.
There's no doubt that Brad and Steve are top notch songwriters and
a brilliant, witty and engaging team. More entertaining to see in
person, to be sure, but they're also quite good when they're spinning
around really fast in your CD player.
***
1/2 (three and a half stars out of five)
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Eric
Endres
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