What is it about catchy pop hooks that make some of us break out in hives? Many of us love to flaunt our grit and sincerity as music fans, believing that only we truly know what rocks (or twangs) in the right way, and if it don’t do it, it ain’t real.
Yeah, well, you’re not always right. There are no rules about what makes music “real” or good; that is, it doesn’t have to do anything to make the grade other than sound good to your ears. And as an appreciator of great popcraft (I will be convinced to the day I die that Paul McCartney had no competition whatsoever for the title of “best post-Beatles solo career.” John was a drunken inconsistent ass, George was a dour bummer, and Ringo was Ringo. In 30 years I will wake up with “Listen To What The Man Said” stuck in my head and think to myself, “gee, that guy sure wrote a heaping fuckton of brilliant pop songs in his life.” Then I will turn on the radio and hear John tunelessly caterwauling “Woman Is The Nigger Of The World” to prove how “progressive” and “brilliant” he was, and I will hang my head in shame. But goddamn, I digress, don’t I…), I am continually frustrated by people who tend to dismiss songs on the basis that they sound “too poppy,” which is typically code for “sellout” or “fluffy bullshit.”
In this frustrating world, where a catchy pop hook is looked down upon for no other reason than being a catchy pop hook, where reviews of classic power pop records are demeaningly scattered with non-sequiturial Backstreet Boys references, Brendan Benson fearlessly rides on in defiance. He knows how it is; he knows all the pitfalls of the business well. He knows what it’s like to be dubbed the Next Big Thing, only to be rapidly and unceremoniously expelled into obscurity and failure, to be rescued from said obscurity by one ever-entrepreneurial Jack White and to emerge, well, only slightly less obscure, all the while remaining perhaps the finest pure power pop songwriter of his generation.
Melody just flows effortlessly from this guy; no one—and I mean no one—writes songs like he does anymore- and if they try, they end up somewhere in the unspeakably vast wastelands below the mountain of power pop genius that only a frightening few have ever scaled successfully- Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren., Pete Townshend, Robert Pollard. And Brendan Benson.
Born in Royal Oak, Michigan and raised partially in Louisiana, Brendan cut his teeth in Detroit in the mid-90’s, and with his fresh-faced puppy dog looks and instinctive penchant for writing ridiculously catchy songs, he quickly became recognized as an emerging songwriting star. He signed to Virgin in 1995 and was told he would be the Next Big Thing.
Alas, like many Next Big Things before him, things didn’t quite work out as planned. For Brendan, the disappointment came quickly, and it hit hard. He released his debut album, One Mississippi, in 1996, of which he played and sang virtually every note himself- as he would with the large majority of his solo work (not content with writing like Paul McCartney, the guy ever-so-competently plays and produces everything himself a la solo McCartney too). The album is effortlessly fun and energetic, like nonstop a sugar rush that never lets up (and not of the bubblegum kind, of the rockin’ guitars and stunningly perfect harmonies kind). Don’t think you’re too cool for it, and if you do, you’ll be a-boppin’ your head and singing along by the time the chorus of “Sittin’ Pretty” comes around- and you’ll never stop for as long as you live. In addition, note that several of the album’s songs were co-written by fellow power pop luminary Jason Falkner.
However, despite the awesomeness and undeniable appeal of One Mississippi, the album failed to sell even a lick, and after awkwardly touring through ’96 and ’97 with his then-backing band, the Well Fed Boys, including an allegedly disastrous stint opening for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Brendan retreated and was eventually dropped from Virgin. Brendan spent five years inactive from recording or touring, only occasionally breaking out to play in various bands in the Detroit area, including a few with Jack White, who Brendan met and befriended at an early White Stripes show.
In 2002, Brendan got back in the game with his sophomore album, Lapalco, a masterpiece of its genre. You may have heard the chugging “Tiny Spark” in a lame romantic comedy or two, but don’t let that fool you- it’s one of the greatest pop songs ever written, and no, I am not exaggerating. If you tell me Lapalco is “too cute” or “too poppy” (which it ain’t; it’s quite a contemplative record, actually) then fuck you. Tell me where else you’re going to find songwriting this good. You’re not. No, Brendan, maybe “you’re not John Lennon,” as you make clear in the powerhouse “Folk Singer,” but who cares! You’re Brendan Benson! Lapalco was very recently remastered and reissued on vinyl, with a digital download option that includes a bunch of b-sides, demos, alternate versions, and other goodies.
Jack White, by Lapalco’s release riding the notoriety and success of the White Stripes’ initial rise, named said album as his favorite release of 2002. The White Stripes even covered that album’s “Good To Me” and released it as the B-side to “Seven Nation Army” in 2003. As a result, though it didn’t reach a particularly significant level of commercial success, it sold three times as much as One Mississippi and generated some buzz around Brendan again. He followed up Lapalco with 2005’s The Alternative To Love, which was buoyed by strong singles “Spit It Out,” “Cold Hands (Warm Heart)” and Ipod commercial fave “What I’m Looking For.”
Before the release of The Alternative To Love, Brendan was working on an unfinished song when Jack White dropped by for a visit. After Brendan played the song for him, Jack quickly wrote out some lyrics. The song, a Benson/White composition, was called “Steady As She Goes.” Not long after, Brendan, Jack and the rhythm section of Cincinnati garage rockers the Greenhornes, bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler, gathered in Brendan’s attic and recorded what would become the Raconteurs’ debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, released in 2006, with “Steady As She Goes,” its lead single, becoming an enormous alt-rock hit. The details of the Raconteurs’ oeuvre shan’t be detailed here, but suffice it to say that their two albums, Broken Boy Soldiers and its follow-up, 2008’s Consolers Of The Lonely, are two of the finest front-to-back rock records this young century has yet produced. Not so hot on the White Stripes but dig the Raconteurs? It’s probably because Brendan writes all their best songs!
Following the Raconteurs’ first tour, Brendan began a practice of leaking various demos on his Myspace page, website and fan forum that he had been working on, starting as far back as November 2006 with “Feel Like Taking You Home,” in which the darker influence of the Raconteurs could be heard. This continued for nearly three years, a period in which upwards of twenty or so new Brendan songs were revealed to the public. However, only 11 made it onto his fourth solo record, 2009’s My Old, Familiar Friend. With the Raconteurs on hiatus (these days Jack White is more into insulting his fans in the internet and making records with his terrible other side project, the Dead Weather), Brendan has been touring My Old, Familiar Friend almost nonstop since its release. And though his time in the Raconteurs doesn’t seem to have exactly exploded his fan base, Brendan, now 40, is still going at it. Anticipated future projects include a new studio album, tentatively due out at the end of the year, an album of songs that didn’t make My Old, Familiar Friend, and a collaborative record with Nashville singer/songwriter/24 year-old babe Ashley Monroe, from which numerous demos have leaked. Ashley and Brendan first worked together on the “bluegrass version” of the Raconteurs’ hit, “Old Enough.” And you bet your ass that whatever he comes out with, I’ll be singing along as soon as I hear it. I won’t be able to resist.
My personal favorite Brendan song, “Crosseyed,” from One Mississippi:
“Tiny Spark,” from Lapalco:
“Folk Singer,” from Lapalco:
“Cold Hands (Warm Heart)” from The Alternative To Love:
“A Whole Lot Better” from My Old, Familiar Friend:
The Raconteurs- “Old Enough (bluegrass version)” featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe:
