Word: kweller
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...force of 60s and 70s pop-rock, a style which works with mixed results when combined with Kweller’s emo boy lyrics. Much of On My Way makes for pleasant listening, but many of the tracks sound too identical to artists who preceded the 22 year-old Kweller. “Hospital Bed”’s honky tonk piano sounds like Sgt. Pepper era Beatles and then shifts into a Ben Folds Five-esque piano pounding chorus, while “Down” and “I Need You Back” closely...
...Kweller...
Despite this penchant for imitation, Kweller seems concerned for most of On My Way with the “realness” of his life; he defiantly yells, “Tell me all the rules, girl / I just wanna get’em wrong,” and notes of a lover, “Yeah, you are living life the way you feel, and that is real.” It’s when this earnestness reaches the right balance with Kweller’s admiration of his musical predecessors that the finer moments of the album...
Still, On My Way has trouble transcending the preciousness of its genre, chiefly since Kweller is barely aware of the world beyond his window. The twee My Apartment feels like a reworking of Weezer's even more twee In the Garage, and at 22, Kweller is still vulnerable to bouts of yearbook wisdom, like "All the answers and the dreams/Will come to you in time...
...Stephen Malkmus--and terrific production by Ethan Johns. On My Way is barely electric, but Johns (whose father Glyn was a pioneer in intimate recording techniques and one of the early producers on Let It Be) finds a way to make it rock at every opportunity. For now, Kweller is still just a guy with a guitar. But he's aging quite well. --By Josh Tyrangiel