Ben Kweller "On My Way" **** ATO/RCA Records The band will play the 9:30 club on Saturday.
Singer-songwriter Ben Kweller brings a brand of folky garage rock to "On My Way," his follow-up to 2002's breakthrough "Sha Sha." Despite the risk of clich? wordplay, Kweller certainly is on the way, making his record by his rules.
There's no obvious single on the new album, and no track as singable as "Wasted and Ready," the first cut from "Sha Sha." Present here is only further proof that Kweller, the modest 22-year-old prodigy, is a songwriting phenomenon. Kweller takes to writing poetic pop like a fish to water, or maybe in his case, as a young man takes to love.
On Kweller's debut, his lyrics seem insecure and wistful, a young romantic, frustrated and overwhelmed. However, lingering towards the end of "Sha Sha" is the acoustic "Lizzy," an ode to Kweller's then girlfriend where he sings "Like mama said, don't you let it go to your head." Fast-forward to two years later: "Lizzy" is now Liz Kweller. The two wed in 2003, and with "On My Way," Kweller has apparently not taken mom's advice. Kweller's overjoyed lyrics aren't the only thing that's changed. Kweller abandons the fuzzy power-pop riffs and big piano ballads of "Sha Sha" in favor of a more unprocessed sound.
Through Kweller's friends and tourmates, the Kings of Leon, Kweller was introduced to their producer Ethan Johns. Johns' father was Glyn Johns, a legendary producer who worked for several bands in the 1960s, including the Rolling Stones and the Who.
"Ethan [Johns] learned everything from his dad," explained Kweller in a phone interview. "He was basically like, 'I'm gonna set you up the way my father set up the Rolling Stones in '64.' And we were like 'OK.' And he was like, 'Well they didn't ... have headphones in '64 so take off the... headphones.' So we [took off the] headphones."
Like the Stones' and Beatles' records, the two guitars on "On My Way" are separated between each channel. Kweller's guitar has the right channel, and bandmate Mike Stroud's guitar the left.
"We would sit in one room with no separation between the amps and drums," Kweller said. "So if you played the bass guitar, you would hear the drums through the microphone on the bass amp. There was like total bleed on every track, so it makes it so live and raw sounding."
Johns allows Kweller's musical versatility to shine through without damage to his signature sound. He's Neil Young on opener "I Need You Back," then Dylan on the harmonica on "Hear Me Out," then Elvis Costello on the punchy "The Rules," then Rivers Cuomo, cracking his voice on "Down," then Ben Folds banging piano keys on closer "Different but the Same."
"I'm moved by so many different types of music," Kweller said. "I wanna make country records and make punk records and a total piano ballad record and just everything."
Kweller uses these varied influences, but succeeds in maintaining his own style, mostly because of his lyrics. They remain simultaneously heartfelt and ironic, without a trace of cynicism. "You speak to me without speaking, you touch so I can feel / With your strength I am stronger, at last I know I'm real," Kweller sings on "Believer."
Kweller sings about flying home to see his cat, the beautiful hats his wife makes and karate he learned in Japan, and at the same time he is consistently able to deal with subject matter that is relevant. Kweller applies these odd lines to songs about love and commitment, maintaining a distinctive, imaginative style. The highlight of which is the title track, "On My Way," in which Kweller delivers an honest and intimate acoustic performance. It is Kweller's most sincere song to date.
"I'm so proud of the lyrics, and I think it sums up a lot of shit for me," Kweller explained. "It's got a lot of yin and yang going on because you have like the two dark sides and then you have the two light sides, and then you have the listener which is like this gray area. That's the point in which you step off the road to the light side. I like the dimensions of it, like the first line, you don't know which direction the song's gonna go. I'm really proud of it."
While Kweller is proud of his music, he doesn't necessarily expect his fans to own it, at least in the conventional sense.
"I am a supporter of [music] downloading and file sharing," Kweller admitted. "That was always our generation's cool thing. I'm a fan of it. I don't know what the music business is gonna do to control it. I'm not behind a desk, that's not my job. Luckily I just have to play it."
Kweller said he felt that anything that gets more people into music is a good thing, and he recognizes online file-sharing as a main reason for the growth of his fanbase, especially when he was starting out.
"Kids would come up to me [at shows] and be like, 'I'd never heard of you, but I downloaded the songs and now when I saw you tonight I was able to sing along.' That kind of stuff, I think it builds fans more than anything."
For his show at the 9:30 club this Saturday, Kweller is co-headlining with Seattle indie rock outfit Death Cab for Cutie. Kweller says he feels that it is an excellent combination.
"I called up Ben Gibbard, [the lead singer of Death Cab For Cutie], and we talked about it," Kweller said. "It seems like a good match and it's working out so far. And I think we have a lot of fans in common, but at the same time there's a lot of fans that don't know the other band. So we're getting to play in front of new kids and spend time in front of our fans as well."
Kweller said he realizes that there is a lot of pressure associated with a follow-up album. He had a lot to prove with "Sha Sha," and now has more pressure to top it with "On My Way," but Kweller doesn't let that get to him, or influence his songwriting.
"The old saying goes: You have your whole life to write your first record and you only have a year to write your second," Kweller said. "I don't put much pressure on myself. I just keep writing songs and luckily I was able [to write] 20 songs this past year and I recorded 11 of them. Luckily I got enough songs out of me, thank God. I just try to keep milking it as long as I can."
With "On My Way," Kweller shrugs off the title of "indie-rock" while still wearing his heart on his sleeve, although this time, he's not alone to bear that burden.
