Friday, September 14, 2001

The multiple personalities of Ben Folds
New record makes for intelligent listen
by Jack Bullion
Skiff Staff

There have always been two sides to Ben Folds. On the one hand, heÕs the sensitive, remorseful relationship killer that shows up on slow, pathetic songs like the breakout hit ÒBrick.Ó On the other, heÕs the raucous, sarcastic clown who likes to cuss, beat his piano with his fists and happily point out everyoneÕs tragically hilarious character flaws Ñ including his own Ñ in song.

The balance that Folds strikes between these two types has always been a tenuous one; on past albums, sarcasm and sincerity wage a knockdown drag-out battle that more than likely ends in a perplexing draw. So will Mr. Folds be any different on ÒRockinÕ the Suburbs,Ó his first album without his old Ben Folds Five band mates?

Well, the two Bens do make their customary appearance. But another Ben Folds turns in an intriguing cameo, as a world-weary but perceptive tour guide through the ins and outs of the inanities that play themselves out in the offices, the bar rooms and the split-levels of suburbia. There hasnÕt been a rogueÕs gallery of quirky metropolitans on a rock album since the heyday of the Kinks.

Some of FoldsÕ creations get painted with ironic contempt. Take, for example, the brain-dead head-banger romance of ÒZak and Sara,Ó whose heroine hears Òvoices from inside/the kind of voices she would soon learn to deny.Ó The title track, which takes hilarious digs at the manufactured angst of rap-rockers like Limp Bizkit, whom Folds accuses of ÒrockinÕ the suburbs just like Jon Bon Jovi did/Except that he was talented.Ó

But there are times on ÒRockinÕ the Suburbs,Ó as on any Ben Folds album, when the snark gets toned down a little in favor of true poignancy. Folds mines serious relationship territory in ÒLosing LisaÓ and the downright morbid ÒCarrying Cathy,Ó a song that may or may not be the logical sequel to ÒBrick.Ó

ÒFred Jones Part 2,Ó for all its quirky songwriting, is a downright haunting tale of a middle-aged casualty of office politics. Folds, who has always had a barely concealed fetish for Billy Joel and Elton John, truly ups the musical ante on this album. HeÕs always been the best (feel free to read that as a euphemism for ÒonlyÓ) piano rocker of his generation, but on ÒRockinÕ the Suburbs,Ó, full orchestras and hard-edged guitars join FoldsÕ piano-thumping. Folds even drops a dead-on Zach de la Rochaimpression during an impromptu rap on the title track.

So the satirist and the sentimentalist are back for ÒRockinÕ the Suburbs.Ó But while Ben FoldsÕ dual songwriting personalities may ultimately affect whether he is considered merely good instead of great, they still make for an intelligent, insightful, very sincere and very funny listen.

Ñ Jack Bullion