Ben Kweller-Sha Sha (Deluxe) (2002/2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Enthusiasm is what singer/songwriter Ben Kweller brings to his work. Ramones-like perennial goofy-teenager attitude and lack of antipathy are his golden attributes, and the combination of his keen songwriting sense makes Kweller a pop powerhouse. Following his self-released demo, Freak Out It's Ben Kweller, and the following EP, Kweller spreads out with more pop songs and sounds on this full-length studio album. Underscoring the songwriting skill he's been working at since age eight, he plays acoustic, folk-rock, alternative, power pop, and straight-ahead rock of the course of 11 songs. His lyrics are consistently heart-sung, but they aren't lite – he's got weight and bite, too. Kweller isn't afraid to wear his top-drawer influences on his sleeve, either: "No Reason" soars on guitar like a Weezer or Frank Black tune, and he sings "noooooo reason to cry" with the same vehemence with which Johnny Rotten once sang "nooooo future." "Commerce, TX" smells like grunge rock, but its commentary on the slacker lifestyle keeps it self-aware. He recuts his epic "In Other Words," a winding, melancholic piano rocker with a jam that is straight off a '70s vintage Elton John record. "Walk on Me" and "How It Should Be (Sha Sha)," though power pop through and through, are pure Kweller – bright, witty, fun, sweet diaries of hard-to-grapple-with feelings translated into two-to-three-minute bursts of self-empowered joy. Isn't that how all rock & roll should be?

TRACKLIST

1. Ben Kweller - How It Should Be (Sha Sha)
2. Ben Kweller - Wasted & Ready
3. Ben Kweller - Family Tree
4. Ben Kweller - Commerce, Tx
5. Ben Kweller - In Other Words
6. Ben Kweller - Walk on Me
7. Ben Kweller - Make It Up
8. Ben Kweller - No Reason
9. Ben Kweller - Lizzy
10. Ben Kweller - Harriet's Got a Song
11. Ben Kweller - Falling
12. Ben Kweller - Falling - Brooklyn Demo
13. Ben Kweller - Walk on Me - Brooklyn Demo
14. Ben Kweller - Lizzy - Brooklyn Demo
15. Ben Kweller - Lizzy - La Demo
16. Ben Kweller - Ballad of Wendy Baker - Brooklyn Demo
17. Ben Kweller - How It Should Be (Sha Sha) - Brooklyn Demo
18. Ben Kweller - Walk on Me - Live at the Double Door
19. Ben Kweller - Make It up - Brookyn Demo
20. Ben Kweller - No Reason - Brooklyn Demo
21. Ben Kweller - No Reason (feat. Nils Lofgren) Live at the Marquee
22. Ben Kweller - Today (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)
23. Ben Kweller - Psycho Girl
24. Ben Kweller - I Have the Power
25. Adam Green - Kokomo (with Adam Green)
26. Ben Kweller - Debbie Don't Worry Doll
27. Ben Kweller - My Drug Buddy - Live at the Mercury Lounge (Lemonheads Cover)
28. Ben Kweller - Shs-10r
29. Ben Kweller - It's up to You
30. Ben Kweller - It's up to You (feat. Evan Dando) Live at the Brattle
31. Ben Kweller - Undone - the Sweater Song (feat. Juliana Hatfield) Live at Fletchers (Weezer Cover)
32. Ben Kweller - Lollipop
33. Ben Kweller - It's Not Fair



Thanks to the Original customer.