On My Way
Though still in his 20s, Ben Kweller has already kicked around the music business for a full decade. This energetic follow-up to Kweller's 2002 solo breakthroughSha Shafinds the former Radish frontman/teen phenom boldly cutting through much of the previous album's precious, alt-rock production gimmickry in favor of a stripped-down, punked-up garage band ethos that sacrifices none of the singer-songwriter's gifts for pop hooks and sly, self-deprecating lyrical observations. The alternately chunky/nervous, aggro-guitar of "I Need You Back," "The Rules," and "Ann Disaster" suggest the Texas native's move to NYC has been as much musical as geographic. While his vocal nooks and crannies may belie Kweller's still-tender age and playfully rebellious spirit, they're informed by a tried and true piano troubadour sensibility on "Living Life" and "Different But the Same," more folk-oriented traditions on "Believer" and the title track and even a dollop of loopy ballad-narrative that falls somewhere betweenRandy Newmanand English music hall on the infectious "Hospital Bed." A timely reminder that great songs are more important than the trends and idioms that too often confine them.--Jerry McCulley