The Alternative to Love

by

Brendan Benson

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I feel compelled to write this review after reading Mr Otwell's savage mauling of this album.I don't like to criticise the opinion of others but I really must protest at someone who reckons that Benson has lost his ability to write good music.

The simple truth is that 'Alternative To Love' is a masterpiece.

I already own 'Lapalco' and 'One Mississippi' but I always felt that they were patchy affairs.One or two songs on either album hinted at Benson's talent but over all there were too many half tunes to contend with.

On 'Alternative To Love', Benson really gets it right.

The songs are more straight forward power pop than before.

Musical highlights are many.I especially love the title song 'Alternative To Love'.It's great to hear layer upon layer of harmonies and great guitar work.The harmonica solo is a big bonus as well.I also love 'Biggest Fan'.It's the work of a genius.The keyboard (I think it's a Moog or a Melletron ?) dominates the track.Other highlights for me would be 'Flesh And Bone'.It's a nice melancholic track. Benson achieves the right mix of sadness and joy.

Any non-believers out there should listen to 'I Feel Like Myself Again' to dispel any nagging doubts about this man's genius.This song is an anthem to the power pop generation.It's a song similar to 'Surprise' by Semisonic - an uplifting song about finding your confidence again.A wonderful wonderful optimistic track - everything a power pop song should be.

I was doing a bit of research on this album and I found out that Benson recorded the album and then handed the tapes over to the producer with the instruction to 'fill out' the sound.This was a masterstroke.The producer added keyboards, vocal dubs and other technical flourishes to give the album a fuller sound.

I wish more artists would take a leaf out of his book and do the same !

I believe that at the moment Benson is collaborating with his friend Jack White of The White Stripes on new material.I'm not expecting too much from this.I can't see how White's back to basic blues approach will blend in with Benson's intricate power pop.Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised....

It's power pop. People that listen to music and focus on the "atrocious" lyrics seem to be missing the point of pop music: it's catchy, hummable and happy. Certainly there were people back in the day who despised the ambiguity of early Beatles lyrics (" 'I want to hold your hand'? WHOSE hand!?") but anyone with their head on straight won't dispute the music's enduring nature. Philosophize all you want, but Benson's cheap tricks here are designed merely to entertain, and they accomplish just that. He just wants you to want him. He needs you to need him. He... well, you get the point.

Frankly, it's easy to see how Jack White from the White Stripes claims Benson as an influence with quirky, bouncy tunes like the title track "Alternative to Love" peppering this release. Although Benson's music is pop devoid of the blues-aping garage rock that defines the White Stripes, Benson and White are kindred souls in terms of their oddball nature. Both essentially write quirky pop songs; Benson's are more complex. Consider Benson to be the Rubik's Cube to the White Stripes' Whack-A-Mole.

Four strong tracks open the disc: "Spit It Out"'s restrained guitar strums and twee sound effects give way to a soaring jack-in-the-box chorus; "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)" is a twinkling headbobber in the fine tradition of popsmiths everywhere; the straightforward "I Feel Like Myself Again" with its backhand-to-the-face chord changes and yet another singalong chorus demand the listener's attention, and the aforementioned title track sounds like the soundtrack to furry little animals dancing in a forest somewhere. If that scenario bothers you thematically, just mentally cut the chorus out and paste it over a Tarantino torture scene. There, that's better. Unfortunately, these four tracks strike this listener as the strongest on the record.

A cannibalized riff opens "Get It Together," and the overwrought "The Pledge" with its self-important timpani and church bell spiced instrumentation is just flat-out annoying. "Between Us" is a serviceable closer, but doesn't make up for the bland nature of all the unnamed tracks which precede it.

Not terrible as some have made it out to be, but not brilliance on par with the Beatles, either. For that, Benson needs to make a solid record that can stand on its own; although it contains a few good songs, "The Alternative to Love" is not that record by a long shot.