The String Cheese Incident Outside Inside SCI Fidelity 2001
Words by John Kreicbergs

Artist site: stringcheeseincident.com

1. Outside And Inside
2. Joyful Sound
3. Close Your Eyes
4. Search
5. Drifting
6. Black And White
7. Lost
8. Latinissmo
9. Sing A New Song
10. Rollover
11. Up The Canyon

All too often, a band that possesses that elusive gift of genuine onstage charisma coupled with the innate ability to keep a crowd wiggling its ass for hours finds itself lost as soon as it sets foot in a recording studio. Isolated from an audience and often succumbing to the lure of recording gimmickry, the end result is usually either a hollow half-attempt to recapture a live performance or just an incoherent mess. Somehow on its latest release, Outside Inside, the Boulder-based "jamgrass" band the String Cheese Incident manages to maneuver its way past most of these pitfalls on its most polished studio effort to date.

Here the group has crafted an eclectic collection of styles into a unique statement. And while little of this release offers longtime fans any new nuggets (the vast majority of the tracks being well road-tested over the past year or two of near-constant touring), the band does take advantage of what the studio can offer.

Craftsmanship becomes the main focus, from Nershi's and Kang's guitar and mandolin work on "Close Your Eyes" to the audacious funk horn lines of guests Karl Denson and Andy Cleaves on "Black and White" and "Lost." With the effects-laden vocals on the heavy blues/funk number "Sing a New Song" to the backroom sonority of "Latinissmo," the entire disc benefits from the guiding hand of longtime Los Lobos-producer Steve Berlin.

Gone are the winding solos and transitions between songs, trademarks for the genre that mesmerize crowds yet rarely translate to the studio without seeming self-indulgent. Instead, the average track length lingers around the 5-minute mark with the exception of a hefty 11-minute version of "Rollover." A single-disc, eleven-track release is hardly the place to feature improvisational noodling or extended jams, which relegates these selections to mere skeletons to be fleshed out in live performances.

The only disappointing aspect of the album is the notable absence of the bluegrass "pickin' and grinnin'" on which the String Cheese Incident has built its reputation for the past five years, save for a token nod with "Up the Canyon." Yet considering the distance covered on Outside Inside, this oversight would be forgivable if it weren't for the fact that they're just so damn good at it.

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