Ben Kweller

EP Phone Home

ATO Records

You can tell what genre Ben Kweller"s release EP Phone Home is going to be just by looking at the cover art. Poor quality shaggy sort of puzzled looking guy spells indie rock.

His voice and musical style are a cross between Ben Folds and Steve Malkmus. He kind of looks like a cross of them too.

The happy-go-lucky power pop, which fluctuates between being heavily based in guitar riffs and reliant on piano work, sounds great, especially on the first two songs "Launch Ramp" and "How It Should Be." Just about every song has cheesy background vocals too, which is always a plus. "Don"t bother me / when I"m watching Planet of the Apes on TV / That"s how it should be. / That"s right. / Sha-sha-sha-doop," is a typical lyric.

The rest of the release basically follows this construction and it works for the most part, assuming you haven"t gotten really goddamn sick of all the indie crap that is practically the new, smarter and hipper emo. As a warning though, Kweller"s website reports that he"s going to be opening for Dashboard Confessional in the coming year, though none of the songs on EP Phone Home can really be pigeon-holed into the emo niche.

The only thing that really throws off the album is the third song, a sleepy countrified number called "Debbie Don"t Worry Doll." Something about this track just doesn"t flow with Kweller"s style. Maybe it"s the harmonica.

Kweller will be releasing a full album, Sha Sha, come March. But if you want to give him a try before that hits the stores, EP Phone Home is a nice and cheap way to get a taste of him though a taste of him might be all you need.