Rockin' The Suburbs - Ben Folds

...it'll be much more like Rockin' than it will his last LP, "Songs For Silverman", which was heavily ballad.

Rockin' The Suburbs, on the other hand, is an eccentric mix of piano-rock, ballads, keyboard bits and one guitar-lead rap. In fact, said guitar track is the first time Folds has used a guitar as the key part of one of his songs. This happens to be the title track, an angry attack on nu-metal crapsters Korn (who, let ...
...distinctions made between races. It also happens to be pretty damn funny. "Y'all don't know what it's like," snarls Folds at the start "to be male, middle-class and white". A simple repetitive guitar growls alongside some spiralling keyboard chords, and Folds does some mock-posturing as he sings. It manages to laugh at the very music he's emulating in the song, without getting overdone. As he says himself "sham on!" ... more

In the world of pianists, there is an established hierarchy. Elton John sits at the head of the table, wearing a pink feather boa and those star-shaped glasses he seems to like, whilst Billy Joel and Tori Amos swap anecdotes about politics between courses and Ray Charles orders an extra pudding from the waiter. Beethoven, Mozart, and all those folks are, of course, not worthy to sit at the table because everyone knows that classical music is WELL BORING.

But who is that waiter? Well, it's Ben Folds, of course. Formerly the band leader of The Ben Folds Five, which had only three members, Folds has been a solo artist ever since new millennium: 2000. His brand of sarcastic "punk rock for sissies" (his words, not mine… although I agree) has been rarely heard on radios ever since. However in the past seven years Folds has, at this point, released no less than five solo albums, and the first of them, "Rockin' The Suburbs", is still the strongest of them. Since "RtS", he's contributed a soundtrack for the movie "Over The Hedge", produced William Shatner's comeback album, and broadcast Myspace's first ever online concert. His sixth solo album is due out sometime before the end of this year, and hopefully it'll be much more like Rockin' than it will his last LP, "Songs For Silverman", which was heavily ballad.

Rockin' The Suburbs, on the other hand, is an eccentric mix of piano-rock, ballads, keyboard bits and one guitar-lead rap. In fact, said guitar track is the first time Folds has used a guitar as the key part of one of his songs. This happens to be the title track, an angry attack on nu-metal crapsters Korn (who, let me just check… yes, they still suck) and on the distinctions made between races. It also happens to be pretty damn funny. "Y'all don't know what it's like," snarls Folds at the start "to be male, middle-class and white". A simple repetitive guitar growls alongside some spiralling keyboard chords, and Folds does some mock-posturing as he sings. It manages to laugh at the very music he's emulating in the song, without getting overdone. As he says himself "sham on!" It's a brilliant fun track.

Tracks such as "The Luckiest", which ends the album, are more sombre affairs. A simple love-song written for his wife, it's simple in the composing. Just Folds and his piano. It's sweet, but it isn't something I find I want to continually go back to. More successful is "Fred Jones, Pt 2". Again featuring mainly just Folds and his piano, there's an elegance in the playing that cuts it above the other tracks, and Folds ability as a lyricist should never be underestimated. As he tells the story of Fred, you can feel what's happening as Folds sings. A single cello plays out the ending in stylish fashion.

"Carrying Cathy", "The Ascent of Stan" and "Still Fighting It" all sit in a middle ground between ballad and sissy-rock, where the piano races along happily but not angrily, and the song is expressed through either the songwriting; the other instruments, or Fold's voice. He doesn't have the most natural voice, but there's a hook that catches whenever he tries to sing the high notes that carries you along with him. He has a distinctive vocal tremble which sounds fragile and, yes, sissy-ish, but there's a strength as well behind him, so when on Carrying Cathy he sings the chorus, the choke in his voice every time he says "everyone was carrying Cathy" hooks you in again. A lament about a drug-addict who falls hard is a tricky sell, but the poignancy of the piano means that Folds pulls it off in style. Similar is The Ascent of Stan, which is more upbeat musically, if not lyrically. Folds sings all the high notes as the piano spins round in circles round itself. Come the chorus, "the ascent of Stan/textbook hippie man", shakers and rainmakers add to the free-flowing feel of the music. But best of all the half-ballads is almost certainly "Still Fighting It". A very pretty song written to warn his son about the dangers of growing up, it seems a little slow-going until a power-ballad of a chorus slugs in to the ring and takes over everything. "Everybody knows it hurts to grow up/and everybody does" is a little obvious, lyrically, but the conviction in Folds voice just about holds the thing together, and it's a song which has grown on me considerably over repeat listens.

But when it comes to Ben Folds, we're all here for the power-rock-pop stuff he does where the piano takes a belting and Jamie Cullum hangs his head in shame after realising he's still painfully amateurish and goes back home to practise his musicianship. (At the banquet hall of pianists, Cullum serves the coffee).

The album kicks off with a thump. An actual, literal thump on the piano before Folds begins, giving us a piano line that sounds courtly and controlled. After the introductory part of the song, everything kicks off and we're put into pop territory, the kind of pop Keane should really be making. Folds is on top form throughout, "And so, Annie waits Annie waits Annie waits…but not for me" he declares, as handclaps and rums and tinkly bits of percussion rain down all around him. Even better is "Zak and Sara" ("spelled without an H", Folds clarifies). A real fast piece of piano races downhill and it's a shame I don't really know what any piano terms are called, so I'll have to make stuff up. Things race downhill, yes, and when the drumbeat kicks in there's a sense of speed, as the story of the two central characters is related one after the other. It's an intriguing song to listen to; something fun to listen and dance around to, but also a song with some great lyrical set-pieces such as "visions of pills that put you in a loving trance/and make it possible for all white boys to dance" - if you agree that's a great line of music, you'll like Ben Folds.

Yet we still haven't reached the best songs on the album. "Gone" and "Not The Same" are the two best songs here, and possibly anywhere. I can't listen to them enough. Gone has a great crashing sound, it's music that's gone off the rails a little. Big, mega-big, really quite loud drums shatter through softer cymbal rushes as the piano pounds out the central melody. Folds' voice pierces the music forcefully. The different elements of the song blend together, and create a shattering musical effect. But yes, geek-rock it is. "Not The Same" has a more muted sound, with noticeably muffled drums taking second place to some weird synths I can't name, and shall not try to. "You gave your life/To Jesus Christ/you were not the same after that", Folds complains, and his voice is looped around to create a Ben Fold choir to sing along with him. There are some more guitars here, but Folds is in complete control of the song. It's surprising how the power of geek can conquer the power of rock, but Folds does it on this album time and time again.

There is definitely a love it/hate it quality at play with Ben Folds, though. I myself love his music, but many won't. He makes silly jokes during the verses, or mocks himself, or does strange things with the piano that take your attentions way from the music. "Fired" features unexpected swearing that would make Jenny Lewis proud, and has a bumbling piano that you'll either like or find irritating. Oh, and the main character of the song is called "Lucretia", which is always a bad sign. On this song, the rocky element seems to jar slightly with everything else, but it's pulled off with a confidence level that stops you from minding much. The Luckiest is a poor ending.

But then again, the album does feature tracks like "Losing Lisa", which is, today, my favourite on the album (it switches between this one and "Gone"). The song bounces along quietly, before lashing out with a big chorus "black tears are falling down her face/and I am wrong/black tears are falling and she won't say what I've done". It's about knowing you've done something to mess up a relationship, although… you're not quite sure what it was you did. The drums, the piano, everything is working together perfectly.

Folds is only waiting the tables, but one day surely someone will notice him and he'll take his rightful place at the table. He's a superb pianist, a great lyricist and vocalist; and he's certainly more interesting than most other male singers out there. My personal view is that you can't have enough geeky power-pop in your life. If you disagree, get this album and see just how wrong you are. 

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