Ben Weaver
The Ax In the Oak (Bloodshot)
By Adrienne Urbanski
Published: September 26th, 2008 | 9:00am
Now that the fashion world has declared the ‘90s retro, it only makes sense that the music world would follow suit — embracing and producing pared-down acoustic works; the sort that sound like they were recorded in someone’s bedroom, the ones that caught on around the era of flannel.
A sound like this is surely an optimistic one, in an industry where downloading has ensured that only the biggest hitters will break a profit on album sales. This is where Ben Weaver lies in his quiet, awkward acoustic gems; songs that never quite approach catchy, but still have their own distinct likeability. The uniform sound that encompasses nearly every track on The Ax In the Oak also makes it hard to pick one out of the bunch, as each track seems to blur into the next.
The delicate acoustic guitar work on “Dead Bird” makes it an admirable track. “White Snow” has the catchiest chorus of the album and the most dynamic guitar work, however it’s purposefully obtuse song lyrics weigh it down: “And all my angels have lost their legs / Who put the blue roses by Tennessee’s bed?” The album makes it apparent that Weaver is a far more gifted musician than lyricist. Still, there’s a certain charm evoked in an album that sounds so raw, one that’s free from legions of studio musicians — the kind of smoke and mirror tricks that tend to mask the true ability of songwriters.
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Ben Weaver’s official site
Ben Weaver’s MySpace page
Issue #35
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