Supersunnyspeed

BEN FOLDSSUPERSUNNYSPEEDGRAPHIC

“What could’ve been.” That’s my three-word review for Ben Folds’ latest album, Supersunnyspeedgraphic. To start the gripes off right, what’s with the effortless title? And the album’s artwork? Thrown together, possibly by a middle school Photoshop student. A damn shame, I say, considering the origins of the songs.

In 2003 Folds gained unlimited access to a studio and recorded a no frills EP with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee under the name of “The Bens.” Along the way he had an idea: “Why not record just for fun and sell whatever comes out online as MP3 files for a buck a piece?” The result is a series of four Eps, all of which were also eventually released as CDs via Folds’ website.

Says Folds about the releases, “As time went on a part of me that’s still stuck in the old school wanted a copy I can hold, break, scratch, throw away or use underneath the leg of the coffee table. Something I can’t delete; a full-length long play record album. To be in the store!” Hearing this (after buying all of the 5-song EPs, mind you) I was excited at Folds’ appreciation for the diminishing art of actual album craft … and then I saw the pre-release tracklist. Ugh.

How Folds can leave “Wandering,” his best ballad since “Brick,” off of SuperSunny is bewildering. How can he include his embarrassing Dr. Dre cover and not one of his most brilliant songs ever is offensive. This is the guy that released Whatever and Ever, Amen and Rockin’ the Suburbs – two seamless full-lengths – how can he botch this, a surely classic album? Well, he did, says the obsessive, opinionated music aficionado.

To most, Supersunnyspeedgraphic is just another killer Ben Folds album. And fine, it does have a lot of good tunes on it, but again, “What could’ve been.” Starting off with a cover of The Cure’s classic “In Between Days” is a fine choice, considering he meets the “if you gotta do it, do it better or do it different” criteria for a cover song. Folds – believe it or not – does it better, changing Robert Smith’s new wave cult favorite into a timeless pop song.

The next four songs, “All You Can Eat,” “Songs of Love,” “There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You” and “Learn to Live with What You Are” are classic post-Suburbs Folds, arguably creating the best top five tracks on any of his albums.

The seven tracks that follow are spotty. Had Folds chosen different songs (ahem, “Wandering”) from his EPs – and maybe even “Heist,” “Still” and/or “Family of Me” from his rececnt Over the Hedge soundrack – he’d have on his hands his fourth great album. Instead, we get a thrown-together time killer to hold us over until Folds’ upcoming studio album. Oh, whatever and ever could’ve so easily been. 6.5/10

Written by G. William Locke