Other Desert Cities - On The Verge of Collapsing

Label: Velvet Blue Music
Release date: August 8th, 2006
mp3: Winter Winds

Next time you go driving cross-country, make sure you bring a road map, a thermos full of coffee, and of course Other Desert Cities. These are perfect tunes to crank up when driving through the open space of the midwest and the lonely desert towns of New Mexico (or wherever). It's been four years since the ODC self-titled debut and fans have been waiting....and waiting....and waiting... for this sophomore release. So what's the verdict? Was it worth the wait?

I would gladly wait four years for every new release if it was as pleasing as On The Verge of Collapsing. The word on the street is that frontman C. Charles Bowden was going through a divorce during the making of this record. The expectation would be that the lyrics would be dripping with self-pity, regret, vitriol, disdain, depression, loneliness, and revenge. Some of that is here, but this is by no means a self-important, self-centered, egotistical Bowden portrait. Instead, the album effectively expresses loss but not at the expense of faith and hope.

Track 3 "These Things Happen" will surely tug at your heart because it's about a phone call to a man informing him that his wife died in a car crash. The gentle strumming of the guitar along with the introduction of a saxophone drives the song forward as it explodes into the powerful chorus of :

Oh my God she's dead...I just spoke with her! This can't be her end...I just spoke with her!

There are some tender songs as well, including the opener "On Time", "Darlin' Come Home", "Walk With Me", and the very uplifting closer "Heaven Bound Train".

"Heavy Waters" features some of the "fuzzy noise" fans would recognize from Bowden's old band The Merbabies. The song has an extended space-rockish ending that will surely get your attention.

On "Winter Winds", Bowden reverts to the sound that made the self-titled debut such a success. It's more of a simple "cowboy ballad" complete with a little twang and violin. To me, this is the signature sound of ODC and exactly what you should be playing on the long road trips.

"Trouble" is a Cat Stevens cover and might be the favorite for many people. Bowden does an admirable job of making this song his own, adding his personal touch and emotion to the chorus.

I think it's very revealing that "Heaven Bound Train" was chosen as the closer on an album that could have very easily been one to make you jump in front of a speeding bus. Instead, the closing track takes the listener on a different road - one that leads to hope and is driven by faith. This song is totally reminiscent of Wilco's "Forget The Flowers" on the Being There album.

On The Verge of Collapsing has enough sorrow and swagger to make even Tweedy and Dylan proud (and Cat Stevens, too). This is an album that you can hold onto in times of despair and in turn it will hold you up. Bowden's storytelling is at it's most honest and transparent while the music ventures into both familiar and foreign territory. It all adds up to repeated spins and a CD that might not find its way back into the jewel case for a long, long time.