In 1996, Philippine band
South Border, a very popular showband in various Manila nightspots, released their self-titled debut album. One of the band's main attractions is the soulful, expressive singing of vocalist Brix Ferraris. Aside from Ferraris,
South Border contains keyboards, lead/rhythm guitar, bass guitar, saxophone and drums, and their music is heavily influenced by rhythm & blues. Ferraris is equally at ease in a lilting falsetto as well as in the middle of the register. In addition, Ferraris is heavily influenced by the soulful crooning of Michael Jackson, as shown on "Groove Me," "Losin' My Mind" and others. It's too bad Ferraris couldn't use his talent on better material than presented here. The songs, the majority of which were composed by keyboardist Jay Durias, are dominated by predictable, slow-paced ballads, including "Here with Me," "Love of My Life," "Kahit Kailan" ("No Matter When") and others, which become tedious after awhile. More uptempo songs are sorely needed. The ballads do have some nice moments, but not enough. There are no full-throttled upbeat songs on
South Border, but the moderately upbeat "Groove Me" and "Losin' My Mind" are interesting and two of the album's better songs. They also provide a welcome change-of-pace to the overall drabness of the other songs. Still, "Kahit Kailan" got a great deal of airplay, and the album gained attention, partly due to
South Border's reputation as a leading showband. ~ David Gonzales