Brendan Benson

My Old, Familiar Friend (ATO)

By AK Gold
Published: August 24th, 2009 | 12:01am

You may recognize the name Brendan Benson from one of his side projects — the Raconteurs — but the nomadic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been making infectious pop rock records since '96, when he released a rough-hewed and quirky record called One Mississippi (Virgin). Since then, Benson’s sound has evolved, and with his fourth solo album, My Old, Familiar Friend, his lyrics, instrumentation, and production are at their most refined.

Benson used to live in Detroit, and the influence of Motown is immediately apparent in the opening bars of “Garbage Day.” With its soaring strings dancing around a simple downbeat, Benson sings a clever torch song, lamenting that “If she throws her heart away / I’ll be there on garbage day.” Similarly, the strings on “You Make a Fool Out Of Me,” heighten the emotion of the guitar-and-piano ballad. However, the effect in the latter song is more modern musical than Motown, as Benson croons a story about an overly critical partner.

“Poised and Ready” is one of the tracks that sounds more like 2005’s Alternative To Love (ATO), but the addition of organ-like keyboards add a depth that Benson had never achieved before. While another pop gem, “Don’t Want To Talk,” is tailor-made for the soundtrack of a romantic comedy with its chorus of “La la la / Don’t want to talk about it / La la / You go on and on and on about it.”

With My Old, Familiar Friend, Benson builds upon the catchy, indie pop sound he’s honed since his debut, incorporates slightly darker lyrics while maintaining his clever wordsmithery, sprinkles in musical elements from different genres and eras, and shapes it all with great audio production by Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters). It’s a successful combination, worthy of becoming an old, familiar, audio friend.

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