Ben Kweller

Item: On My Way
Author: Tom Bastian

On My Way

(2004)

Reviewed by Tom Bastian

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Label ATO Records / RCA RecordsDecapolisApril 2004

indie rock pop rock singer-songwriter

In case you're not familiar with Ben Kweller, throw the vocal stylings of Rivers Cuomo, Ben Folds, Gordon Gano and Conor Oberst and various elements of the bands they play in into a blender and that will probably give you a decent idea of what Ben Kweller sounds like, sometimes... It was 2002 since we last heard from the young singer/songwriter, with his debut solo release Sha-Sha. Although some may remember him from his Silverchair-inspired grunge band Radish...most probably will not. With On My Way, much like Sha-Sha Kweller jumps around between many different musical genres, all somehow tied together with pop-rock roots. A more "vintage" recording technique was used to record this time around, stripping the recording process down to its bare bones producer Ethan Johns put all the musicians in a single room playing together and after three days and a few takes on each song they had what they needed. Kweller also laid down the vocals all in pretty much one shot. All coming together to give a very organic sounding pop rock album.

The first single "The Rules" sounds quite a lot like a Violent Femmes single. Not sure it was the best choice for the debut single, but maybe the plan was to save some of the better songs for singles in a month or two. Other songs such as "Hospital Bed" and "Living Life" are more along the lines of Ben Folds melodic piano pop. The standout worst track is the rock tune "Ann Disaster". Come on Ben...can you write a worse song? A repetitive one-hook guitar rock song lyrically going on and on with "I know what you want, you want a piece of me". Yes Ben after having to sit through this song, I kind of do want a piece of you.

I caught Ben Kweller live a few weeks ago in Philadelphia and these songs really come together really well, coupled with the older tunes from Sha-Sha. Best show I've seen in quite a few months to be honest. If you get a chance give On My Way a spin and try to catch Ben Kweller and crew when they come to your town.

3/4