Ben Kweller, Changing Horses
Ben Kweller puts on his Gram Parsons nudie-suit and gets his Sweetheart of the Rodeo on
The Republic of Texas has long prided itself on its all-American autonomy: Texans have their own way of barbecuing beef, a unique sense of perspective (bigger is always best), and a rich country-music legacy, ruled by outlaws and rebels. Ben Kweller may be a Brooklyn resident now, but he spent a good chunk of his boyhood in Texas. For Changing Horses, his fourth solo LP, he not only returned to Texas to record, he also embraced his home state's cowboy twang.
Kweller's best known for his goofy, plaintively-sung pop songs; in 2003, when he teamed up with Ben Folds and Ben Lee for the Bens, it felt like he had finally seized his predestined slot in the indie-pop canon. Changing Horses is a marked adjustment for Kweller, but it's not wholly unprecedented (you can hear hints of Kweller's country-leanings on "Family Tree," from 2002's Sha Sha), nor does it feel like a put-on — Kweller's always had an undeniable knack for melody, and he's an effortless and unfussy singer, with a voice well-suited to country music's soft yawns and swells. Tracks like the swinging "Fight" — with its pedal steel, guitar curlicues, piano solos and vocal harmonies — recalls both Waylon Jennings and Gram Parsons, while "Things I Like to Do" combines Kweller's impish charm ("I like talking at the diner instead of screaming in the noisy bar") with country's gleeful jingle-jangle. The genre fits — just like a rhinestone plastered Nudie suit, or a worn-in red bandana.
