Ben Weasel
These Ones Are Bitter
Mendota Recording Co.

I really wanted to hate this album but I guess I don’t. If anyone follows Ben Weasel’s writing (www.benweasel.com) they’ve been forewarned that this album is going to sound different than Screeching Weasel or the Riverdales (his two most noted outfits) and be more “polished” than the aforementioned bands. Polished is a word that sets off alarms in many a punk rocker’s head, but with the advances in home recording technology, any out-of-the-gate pop-punk band can sound like they recorded at Sonic Iguana studio. What I wanted to shit on was the “digital only” release of this album. I thought it was strange that a man who seemingly led the anti-CD/pro-LP charge in early 1990s punk would embrace something, so… technological.

I always thought the anti-CD argument was horseshit and I’m an admitted technophobe (I don’t do iPod or even have a computer to download music). But not everyone is me, so I tried to look at the benefits of a digital-only release: low costs, no need to shop for a label, reduced waste when the album doesn’t sell. There are plans for a limited LP-only release sometime in the future, so I guess Weasel still champions the vinyl format.

But the music itself? Yes, it’s different than Screeching Weasel and the Riverdales (and even Weasel’s first solo album, 2002s Fidatevi) but I can’t NOT compare it to either of those bands because Weasel was influential and unique (at one time) in his (admittedly Ramones-influenced) song structure and his vocal delivery – it’s not his fault a million shitty bands thought he was a god.

Lyrically, it’s more personal than either of those bands but not as overtly positive as Fidatevi. Musically, there are tons of hooks and those Screeching Weasel-esque guitar leads, but there is something more than just the three-chord verse-chorus-verse (more bridges?).

I think many of the little guitar fills/melodies are excessive and overall it’s too “polished” for me, but that is what Weasel had been telling his fans he was going to do. Repeated listenings have made me like this album more. “Sour All Over” and “Summer’s Always Gone Too Soon” are my favorites.

Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks