Pitchfork

A) No. 2
B) Barry Bonds
C) A brick of hash

Give up? The answer, of course, is that all three are pretty damn solid. Now, the connection between that selfish slugger and a hellofalotta hashish is obvious: love 'em or hate 'em, they consistently produce effective, often staggering results-- though you probably wouldn't want to get with (or by) either of them. Plus, you can only really take so much Bonds or hash before you lose your mind.

No. 2, a three-man outfit led by former Heatmiser co-songwriter Neil Gust, is a completely different kind of solid. Whereas hash goes up in smoke, and steroids go up in Bonds' ass, there's nothing deceitful about No. 2. Though hardly staggering, their results are always rock-solid and don't require moderation on the listener's part. But therein lies the positive and the negative, wrapped up like yin and yang-- or, better yet, like Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball, except not nearly as sexy or fucked up (respectively, of course).

What Does Good Luck Bring? exhibits sound songwriting, as one should expect from Gust. His significant contributions to Heatmiser were overshadowed by the later success of his former bandmate, Elliott Smith; their excellent swan song, 1996's Mic City Sons, was as much Gust's child as Smith's. And when Gust released his impressive debut, No Memory, with No. 2 in 1999, his talent was proven. That record was in many ways a continuation of the pop/rock that Heatmiser had perfected, and it never came close to receiving the attention it deserved.

Smith, as we all know, went on to become a media darling with his Oscar-nominated contributions to the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. Now he's back to fighting obscurity, where Gust has been all along. Fortunately, though, What Does Good Luck Bring? isn't the sound of a talented songwriter trying to prove himself. No. 2 effortlessly crank out 36 minutes of rock, though with slightly less pop than their earlier work. Frank Black's first couple albums with The Catholics come to mind. These songs are crisp and clean, but they have the live feel of a band that has toured relentlessly (as No. 2 have).

"What, then, is the negative?" you ask. Simply put, No. 2 lack adventurousness. Gust knows the formula and he'll be damned if he's going to mess with it. This results in plenty of head-bobbers, with the band opening (as Heatmiser often did) with poppy licks and then moving on through that good old rock-song structure. The lyrics are equally inoffensive. "I don't mind a little confusion/ I don't mind, throw it all away," Gust sings in the opener, "A Little Confusion". He's pretty much cool with whatever-- a mentality he duly passes on to the listener.

Not that What Does Good Luck Bring? is devoid of any variation. The pop factor is still evident in many spots, from the handclaps in "More, More" to the cowbell in "Good Intentions". "8:45 a.m.", meanwhile, offers up a downright countrified beat. And there are several slow, wistful moments, such as the atmospheric folk-pop of "Stranger's March"-- which recalls Smith's DreamWorks output-- and the closing title track, which pairs Gust with another former Heatmiser bandmate, Sam Coomes of Quasi.

In the end, though, a little something is missing. Maybe it's that Gust has ridden the same horse one too many times. Maybe he's just lost a half-step. Whatever the reason, one can't help but listen to What Does Good Luck Bring? and to Smith's last album, 2000's Figure 8, and wish that maybe, somehow, these two would team up again to spark their creative fires.