Personnel includes: Ben Kweller (vocals, guitar, piano); Josh Lattanzi (bass); John Kent (drums).
Additional personnel: Antoine Silverman, Lorenza Ponce (violin); David Gold (viola); Jane Scarpantoni (cello).
Recorded at Sear Sound, New York, New York.
Producers: Stephen Harris, Roger Greenwalt, Ben Kweller.
Personnel: John Kent (drums).
Audio Mixer: Stephen Harris.
Recording information: Sear Sound, New York, NY.
Photographers: Mike Waring; Liz Smith; C. Taylor Crothers.
After spending his teenage years fronting the somewhat successful grunge act Radish, Aussie Ben Kweller roared into his 20s, changing tack with an understated brand of jangly rock. Songs range from Weezer-style lo-fi-amped-to-11 sound of "Wasted & Ready" and "Commerce, Tx" to the prog-rock-meets-country balladry of "In Other Words." The record ends on one of the more perfect slices of piano pop of the 1990s, the Ben Folds-esque "Falling," a sweetly neurotic love song, a blend of confidence and utter vulnerability that sums up Kweller's appeal.
Enthusiasm is what singer/songwriter Ben Kweller brings to his work. Ramones-like perennial goofy-teenager attitude and lack of antipathy are his golden attributes, and the combination of his keen songwriting sense makes Kweller a pop powerhouse. Following his self-released demo, Freak Out It's Ben Kweller, and the following EP, Kweller spreads out with more pop songs and sounds on this full-length studio album. Underscoring the songwriting skill he's been working at since age eight, he plays acoustic, folk-rock, alternative, power pop, and straight-ahead rock of the course of 11 songs. His lyrics are consistently heart-sung, but they aren't lite -- he's got weight and bite, too. Kweller isn't afraid to wear his top-drawer influences on his sleeve, either: "No Reason" soars on guitar like a Weezer or Frank Black tune, and he sings "noooooo reason to cry" with the same vehemence with which Johnny Rotten once sang "nooooo future." "Commerce, TX" smells like grunge rock, but its commentary on the slacker lifestyle keeps it self-aware. He recuts his epic "In Other Words," a winding, melancholic piano rocker with a jam that is straight off a '70s vintage Elton John record. "Walk on Me" and "How It Should Be (Sha Sha)," though power pop through and through, are pure Kweller -- bright, witty, fun, sweet diaries of hard-to-grapple-with feelings translated into two-to-three-minute bursts of self-empowered joy. Isn't that how all rock & roll should be? ~ Denise Sullivan minimize