There is always something peculiar about an artist releasing a self-titled album late into their career. Why not just make the debut self-titled like most normal musicians?
But the funny thing is that such albums tend to be pretty good. Whether it is Pearl Jam's rockin' late career comeback record released earlier this year, or the Beatles' genre-pushing self-titled double album (The White Album to you layfolk out there), late-career self-titleds always seem to stand out as a turning point in an artist's body of work.
While Ben Kweller's recently released self-titled disc could in no way hold its own to either Pearl Jam or The Beatles and is not even really a ""late-career"" self-titled album (it's only his third solo, studio-produced record), it seems to be very much a benchmark in the 25-year-old's already impressive oeuvre. Far more upbeat and poppy than his usual minor-key, more serious fare, Kweller goes in a new direction this time around. While as a whole it may not be as consistent as his previous efforts, as long as you do not go in looking for anything too edgy, Kweller's exercise in pop is an enjoyable experience.
Proven capable on his stellar 2002 debut Sha Sha and even more so on his 2004 follow-up On My Way, Kweller can flex his rock muscle when he wants to. Filled with distorted guitars and mature lyrics, his previous work made it seem Kweller was striving more toward being a rock star than singing pop ballads. Yet love changes people (since his last album he has gotten married and had a child), and he aims to show so. This time around, the piano replaces the distorted guitar as his mainstay instrument (though he plays all the instruments on the album) and the lyrical subject matter loses some of its substance in favor of conveying how great it is to be in love.
Yet just because he has gone light does not mean he has not made an enjoyable little album. While a few of the tunes falter in their own melodrama, the rest succeed in their sheer excitement. The opening track ""Run"" has a simple but catchy hook that sets the tone for the album and will undoubtedly be stuck in your head for a few days after, while the album's first single, ""Penny on the Train Track,"" feels like it could be the bastard son of about a dozen of Bruce Springsteen's best songs.
The album may not be as consistent as Sha Sha or as complex as On My Way, but it does prove to be worthy of the esteemed ""late-career self-titled album"" honor. As long as you do not come looking for any weighty subject matter, Ben Kweller proves pop tunes can be pretty delightful.
