June 6, 2003
Review: Legends of the Super Heroes
Geoffrey Himes, Washington Post

In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine cited 19-year-old Beaver Nelson as one of Texas's most promising singer-songwriters, but by 1998 the Austinite still hadn't released a CD, even after signing two major-label deals. Since 1998, however, Nelson has made up for lost time by releasing four indie-label albums. Not only have they justified his early hype, but each one has been better than the last. The latest, "Legends of the Super Heroes," boasts the quirkiest stories, the most relaxed arrangements, the catchiest tunes and the funniest punch lines.

Those last two qualities are crucial, for unlike so many earnest roots-rockers, Nelson has a joyful sense of melody and an irreverent sense of humor that nicely balance his more doleful and acerbic songs. With his raspy voice, folk-rock guitar strumming and word-crammed verses, he is often compared to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt, the three influences he most readily acknowledges. But Nelson learned more than iconoclasm and metaphor from them; he also learned to appreciate a sly joke and a singalong chorus.

His latest disc has more of a minimalist string-band feel than its predecessors, but Nelson's main collaborator, inspired guitarist Scrappy Jud Newcomb, is still on hand. Newcomb plays the chiming guitar figure on the opening track, "Clean It Up," and Nelson's story of a man telling his girlfriend that he'll clean up after an all-night party becomes a witty parable about the importance of both responsibility and bacchanalia. He delivers a more somber fable on "Sleep (No Rest)," the tale of a nearly deserted town where the cook keeps cooking and seamstress keeps sewing—just like a certain singer-songwriter who hasn't found his audience yet.