You Were Right, It Has Been A While

After doing so many posts counting down my favorite records of 2013 I decided to take a little time off from writing. Well, that is not quite true. It was not an active or conscious decision. I simply did not feel like it. These things happen. Let us move on.

One of the records that came late in the year was You Were Right by Brendan Benson. He is a great songwriter whose records usually find their way onto my year-end list. Last year's What In The World did rightly make my list. This one did not, but that doe snot mean it is not a great record. I believe its failure to arrive on my list is more indicative of my harder-edged leanings this year than anything else.

You Were Right is technically less a proper album than a collection of singles he released through the year. Under that paradigm you would expect the record to sound disjointed but You Were Right does not. Instead it is concessive, strong, and while not quite as outstanding as What In The World it is still very very good.

Most folks who have heard of Benson know of him from The Raconteurs with Jack White, but Benson is one of the best power-poppers around. So that means his songs are catchy, well-written and especially clever. For this record he enlists the help of The Posies' Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow.

But like any good power pop record it is the songs that speak loudest. The vibe of the songs is especially 70s-esque, especially the slinky "Diamond." It is founded along a strumming acoustic guitar before a twitchy electric guitar line slides in guiding the tune through. "Long Term Goal" has a kind of full-bottomed pop vibe with nice reverb-y guitar chords.  "I Don't Want To See You Anymore" uses horns and chiming guitars to set up the melancholy of the song. These are just examples. I will not go into a song by song analysis. I am not good at that. I am feeling that it is regrettable I could not find a place for this record on the list. But there are only ten spots and what can you do? This is a great, mellower offering from one of the best songwriters nobody has heard of.

Here's "Diamond."