Ben Kweller

Enthusiasm is what singer/songwriter Ben Kweller brings to his work; his Ramones-like perennial goofy-teenager attitude and lack of antipathy are his golden attributes; combine that with a keen songwriting sense and you've got a pop powerhouse. Following his demo/self-released Freak Out It's and an EP, Kweller spreads out with more new pop songs and sounds on this full-length studio album. Underscoring the songwriting skill he's been working at since age eight and over the course of 11 songs, he plays acoustic, folk-rock, alternative, power pop, and straight-ahead rock; 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 Frank Black tune and he sings "noooooo reason to cry" with the same vehemence with which Johnny Rotten 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 that are 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, All Music Guide