Steers & Stripes

There is so much comfort and familiarity built into Brooks & Dunn that they have become the rare act whose fans allow them to try anything. Who else could pull off the Spanish come-ons of “My Heart Is Lost To You,” which is basically a Ricky Martin song adapted for Nashville? Or “The Long Goodbye,” which incorporates some gentle drum programming and electronic textures? Or the bluesy hard rock of “The Last Thing I Do,” which could almost pass for an Aerosmith song? The real shock of Steers and Stripes isn’t how many things Brooks & Dunn do — they’ve always been adventurous — but how many things they do well. Even as they refuse to rest on the same old Nashville sounds, the duo always sounds like pure country. And for every left turn in Steers and Stripes a song like “Only In America” is reassurance that that heartland is the group’s lifeblood.