....

(thats a feeling?)

A Whole Lot Better ::

Ringing like the Raconteurs "The Switch and the Spur," The song begins with some assorted noise and then this weak yet defiant clip of the guitar and drums. Many upon first hearing this may have thought.....dammit. This song is not gonna be as good as "Spit it Out," the first single from his last effort, "The Alternative to Love." The guitars don't sound as full, the drums aren't freaking out, and for a moment, you think that maybe you'll just pop in Consolers so you're not dissapointed.

But alas, Brendan delivers, seconds later.

At exactly 25 seconds into the song, the track turns around and slaps you in the face, making you feel like shit for doubting the track in the first place.

Kicking into acoustic guitars and driving hits on the second half of the riff, we here the finally defiant Brendan Benson arriving back on his proper love-toting heart-broken thrown of pop music. The opening riff comes back throughout the song, but other than that, the song is simple yet edgy. Returning throughout the song, that riff carries more weight each time its played, finally reaching the repetative and crowd-pleasing line, "I fell in love with you, and out of love with you, and back in love with you all in the same day." Ending on key and letting it ring, I finally feel that, though this song is nothing topping a song on Lapalco, it still prepares me for the new album in august. Catch this song on his myspace, and while you're at it, listen to all the songs that he did with Ashley Monroe, ESCPECIALLY Consider Me. Pop/Country at its best, awkwardly enough.

Don't Wanna Talk About It ::

This track avail. as a free download, the song begins and I'm reminded for a hot second of the Fratellis. They'd totally cover this.

Brendan once again delivers a thump-walking punch song that promises power on the rest of the forthcoming album. The only weakness to me is that sometimes I feel like i'm simply waiting for the Chorus to roll around. But thats minor and picky. I'm pretty grumpy at times, so bridges in my mind can get repetitive.

There's one part in the song at 2:29 that the song quiets down ever so noticeably, and I can't help but think that contrast could have been TOTALLY quieter, ripping back into the thumping chords singing, "la la la, don't want to talk about it, la la you go on and on and on about it."

Overall? I'm psyched for the album, but will probably skip this one before it ends, so I can pine for more goodies on the album. Then, soon after dissecting the disc, I'll throw it on another driving playlist. It's got that kind of charm.