Sha Sha

Ben Kweller

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 5, 2002)
• Original Release Date: March 5, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ato Records
• ASIN: B000060P7P
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,754 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In 1997, with dreamy Ozzie kiddos Silverchair at their commercial zenith and record labels seeing dollar signs, an unassuming pop-rock trio from Texas led by teenage singer-songwriter Ben Kweller sparked a bidding war. As the dust settled, Kweller's band Radish signed with Mercury and released Restraining Bolt; the stately New Yorker magazine weighed in with a profile; and the world had promptly rolled over and fell back to sleep. Sha Sha, Kweller's 2002 solo debut on Dave Matthews's ATO imprint, captures an understandably cynical but not entirely sour 20-year-old. While Sha Sha can be broadly described as melodic, somewhat rickety, frequently acoustic, piano-laced pop--think Ben Folds with less irony--there are some twisted shadings. "Walk on Me," with its propulsive beats and cascading piano line, is a whiny and wide-eyed plea for mercy to a nasty lover; "Wasted & Ready" is built on a series of preposterous rhyming couplets ("Sex reminds her of eating spaghetti / I am wasted but I'm ready") while "Harriet's Got a Song" sticks to a hard-soft formula, alternating between white-hot guitar licks and little tinkling bits. None of the tracks on Sha Sha screams megahit, but Kweller acquits himself as a unique songwriter nonetheless. --Kim Hughes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You can relate, unless you think you're cool or something, October 19, 2003

By	Lewis Kaminski (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This record really impressed me. I got it on a whim after listening to the EP from "The Bens", a collaboration between Kweller, one of my favorites Ben Folds, and the Aussie Ben Lee. The EP was really quite excellent, and Kweller's song on it was amazing. So I figured, why not?

This guy does not dissapoint. He's endearingly neutral. His voice is low and even and very human. I guess his voice is the thing that first jumped out at me when I first heard this album. It's not one of those soaring, symphonic power pop voices. Instead, it's like he's having a conversation with you. It's refreshing.

"Say hello to the ground." That's clever, good writing. It's what characterizes most of this album. From the opening title track (I still don't know what Sha Do means) to the closer Falling, Kweller flexes his funny bone all over the place. Just look at the cover. The guitar work is admirable, though hardly sophisticated. The appeal lies in the lyrics and the catchiness (is that a word?). That and the cover.

Bottom line, this record will make you smile. You'll think to yourself while listening to Kweller swoon after girls, pregame for a night on the town and forsake his suburban hometown, "yeah man, i know. Me too."

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Note to Ben: Keep doing your own thing, honey., May 13, 2002

By	Beth Ringsmuth "bethringsmuth" (Saint Cloud, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If Ben Folds' "Rocking the Suburbs" album is a glossy, new issue of Spin magazine, Ben Kweller's album "Sha Sha" is a handmade, personalized 'zine from a good friend.

From the opening piano on "How It Should Be (Sha Sha)" to the last "Ahh"s and "Ba ba"s on "Falling," Ben Kweller is amazing. Maybe this is because he's my age (20-ish), and multi-talented (guitarist/pianist/lyricist), but he just gets my goose with this album. I bought it after seeing him open for Dashboard Confessional in March, and I thought he was adorable. After the show, I hugged him, and the boy hugs tightly! Listening to this album is like that hug: it grabs you by surprise and it just won't let go until it's ready.

"Wasted and Ready," "Commerce, TX," "In Other Words," and "Harriet's Got a Song" are my current favorites, but all the other songs are great, too. Some songs rock, some songs are mellow, but they're all catchy and interesting.

Bottom line: If you like Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, even the Get Up Kids, you're bound to enjoy Ben Kweller.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This kid has potential, November 19, 2002

By	Johnny NYC - See all my reviews

It's a little funny that everybody who talks about Ben Kweller remarks on his age and treats him like a young savant. In reality, he's been around for years and his band Radish was supposed to be an alt-rock institution by now. Sadly, their debut came just as the now-dying teenybopper pop movement conquered the mainstream. Ben Kweller's Radish lost the game before they even started.

On his own now, Ben Kweller has a great chance to bring listeners back to rock and roll. Though his songs have an indie-rock edge, he's such a melodic savant that every single track is catchy. The first single, "Wasted and Ready," sounds like it should have topped charts five years ago, but after a half-decade of manufactured pop it's fresh once more. There are plenty of winners here, like the almost-alt-country "Family Tree," the lovely piano rock of "In Other Words" and the Beatles-esque throwback "Walk on Me."

Ben Kweller often sounds very familiar. You'll hear Beck, Ben Folds, Ozma and plenty of older rock mainstays in this album. You could accuse him of merely imitating others' success, but Kweller sounds like these musicians producing their best work. And he sounds like he's just getting started. Buy this album, enjoy it, and keep an eye on Ben Kweller to see if he lives up to the potential that's on display all over this album.