July, 2007
Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity CD Review
Rick Cornell, No Depression, #70 July 2007

Beaver Nelson's cover wink might well be a knowing one, with that open eye on the album's bookends. For the one-time Austin wunderkind who took almost 10 years to release his debut, opening with a song titled "Overnight Sensation" is a nicely ironic touch. Same can be said for the album-ending "Move Along (Show's Over)"; we're not buying that notion from the resilient Nelson for a second. (And musically speaking, in a world where "Reason to Believe" didn't exist, "Move Along (Show's Over)" would be the perfect closer for Every Picture Tells a Story.)

In between, Nelson continues to do what's served him well on his other five albums: combines Texas troubadour songwriting chops with a pop/rock flair and then sells the whole deal with that warm handshake of a voice. Exhibit A is "Perfect String," which sounds like a Guy Clark 33 played at 45, while all remaining exhibits on this brisk and mostly compact 33-minute set have a line to kill for or a melody to die for, or both. "Do Not Appear Surprised, " which finds Nelson and the Scrappy Jud Newcomb-led band at their hooks-aplenty best, offers "The same air that pushed you in the door/Blew by my ear and whispered, 'More.'" Different context but, yes, more please. Let's hope the Beaver Nelson show is far from over.