By jove, that Brendan Benson’s got a way with a tune. You get it with the first minute of the first song off his new album. Starts off a bit like something off a Raconteurs record, then it’s as though Brendan suddenly goes “Hold on, I don’t need to do dreary mid-tempo rock with that red and white muppet any more! Let’s get pop!”1, and the shackles of the last few years come flying off with an explosion of pure delight. Featuring about three different choruses, some nicely contradictory lyrics (“I feel a whole lot better when you’re not around” to “I feel a whole lot better when you come around”), and the confusion of love: “I fell in love with you, and out of love with you, and back in love with you, all in the same day”.
You can’t help but love it. It’s up there with “Tiny Spark” and “Spit It Out”, the openers from his last two albums. And it shows just what we’ve been missing whilst he’s been fannying about with The Raconteurs. He sure knows how to make some great power-pop, does young Brendan, and he really should do it more often. I’ve not had enough time with the new album to write more about it yet, but if you’re lucky/unlucky enough (delete as appropriate), I’ll put up a review at some point.
Anyway, off to watch the Formula 1 from Monza. I do like Monza – it’s one of the very few circuits that still have some of the old magic (Spa and Suzuka being the others). I forsee a 26-car pile-up going into the first chicane.
1 I really quite like Jack White, you know. It’s just that the Raconteurs were far less than the sum of their parts. Shame, really.
MP3: A Whole Lot Better by Brendan Benson
MP3: Tiny Spark by Brendan Benson
Buy Brendan Benson’s “My Old, Familiar Friend” (CD)
Buy Brendan Benson’s “Lapalco” (CD/MP3)
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