Back in middle school, Ben Folds Five was fresh -- all the cool kids were into "Brick." It was kind of like parents' music, but younger and hipper.
On the other hand, my youth was spent with Black Flag and Minor Threat. I cursed the cool kids and the watered-down, non-punk rock garbage they called pop.
Now that I'm a bit older and my music taste has expanded, it's refreshing to review the new album from a guy I totally wrote off eight years ago.
Back then, Folds' muzak was pouty piano, upright bass and sappy love lyrics -- impotent relative to my beloved socio-political punk bands. Today, though, I can see the appeal of Folds' syrupy style.
The melodies on Folds' new solo album, Songs for Silverman, are easy and catchy -- the vocals are sung with that endearingly vulnerable voice of his and the production is clean as a whistle.
I understand that this pop pabulum satisfies some listeners, but it bores me. Folds' songwriting on Silverman is standard at best, a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/amalgamated-ending pattern structuring each track. Then there's that jazzy, easy listening lilt to all his songs. And worst of all, the lyrics are as trite and underdeveloped as they were in middle school.
At times, Folds' libretto is beyond corny -- it literally makes me cringe. The lines "So why you gotta act like you know/When you don't know" from album opener "Bastard" leave me wondering if Folds' creativity has staled with age.
On other tracks, melodies sound more imitative than original.
"Gracie" holds a piano line straight out of the soundtrack to a Wes Anderson film, while "Jesusland" replicates the sound of Frank Black's Black Letter Days. Creative influence is one thing, but Silverman's liberal borrowings are a little too obvious.
That said, the occasional Silverman track is almost listenable.
For instance, "Time" has a pleasant Van Morrison feel about it and some mildly interesting drum fills. And even some of the less veiled rip-offs, like "Jesusland," are semi-enjoyable if you close your eyes and pretend you're listening to whoever Folds is emulating.
I can't honestly recommend Songs for Silverman. But I won't snicker pretentiously when I see someone at the cash register with a copy. I'll pull them out of line and recommend the records Folds imitates.
Maybe my minor appreciation of Ben Folds means that it's time to dust off my old Black Flag records -- though I'm older and wiser, I don't want to completely lose my middle school edge.
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