Changing Horses

Ben KwellerChanging HorsesBen Kweller is a young man. He was a young man when his stellar debut, 2002’s Sha Sha, was released and he’ll be a young man (in sound at least) until he gets throat cancer. He’s also a happily married songwriter with a curly mop top and a whole lot of songs. These are just a few of the many things you could possibly already know about the artist behind the recently released Changing Horses. He’s kinda/sorta a southerner (Frisco, then Texas, now New York City); he’s been a semi-famous critic’s darling for some time now (okay, maybe not); he likes both roots and pop music; and, most importantly, someday he’s going to write really good songs. Until that day comes, with Changing Horses added to the stack, we now have four collections of perfectly enjoyable - and always youthful - pop tunes.

First things first: the voice. Kweller’s boyish chime has been one of the most welcoming and comforting around since his debut, coming off like a Blue Album-era Rivers Cuomo on a Something Else By-era Kinks bender. He’s boyish, witty, charming, sweet, insightful and - dare I speak loudly - one of the most unpretentious songwriters of his era to be taken seriously (moment of silence for Jack Johnson). All the Kwellerisms his fans have come to know continue here, though to much different results. Save for his eponymous 2006 disc (an all-out D.I.Y. pop record), Kweller has always been on the fast-track to the twangy sound of Horses. On My Way (2004), his by far best effort yet, was a lean, mean young man’s answer to Ryan Adams’ Gold - a flagship record for the Americana movement the early part of this decade saw. Horses takes things further, offering an even more country-infused songwriter sound than Adams’ own country best, Jacksonville City Nights.

And it works. It works because it’s Kweller (who thus far hasn’t failed) and he brings his steady and familiar bag of tricks to the plate. Sure, the songs are overly twang-y (there’s literally a pedal steel floating around somewhere at almost every second), but the writing and singing is all very well considered and executed. None of the lyrics dig too deep, none of the playing is too fancy and none of the arrangements move beyond his four-piece comfort zone. While none of the tunes reach the anthem-worthy levels we known Kweller to be capable of (ahem, “Wasted and Ready”), there is much variety here, from the slow rumbling folk of opener “Gypsy Rose” to sing-along tunes like “Old Hat,” “Sawdust Man” and “Homeward Bound.” Ten songs, all good, all consistent in sound and style. Kweller just simply knows how to make albums.

Alas, Changing Horses - and every Kweller album - is yet another letdown in some ways. Here’s a kid, clearly capable of so much, who keeps coming so close to greatness. It all works and is all definitely worth hearing and even getting to know but similar to, say, Bright Eyes’ fantastic I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning, Horses isn’t a legacy-building work, like, say, Gram Parsons’ Grevious Angel. All that said, Horses will sound very good when played alongside any album mentioned in this review, even if the twang comes off as a little too forced. The kid is four-for-four with three doubles and a triple. Not bad for a 27-year-old who seems to do what he does for the heck of it.  6.5/10

Written by G. William Locke