Sun Kil Moon - Benji

pinehurst · **Joined:** Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:45 am **Posts:** 1526

I love the lyric about "coming home crying from kindergarten because I had to sit next to an albino" :lol:

FT · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:30 pm

I really should like this album more than I actually do.

pinehurst · **Joined:** Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:45 am **Posts:** 1526

I've listened to it twice now and it doesn't do much for me. Sounded like every guy I went to college with who tried to write songs with an acoustic guitar.

Dick Meatwood · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:31 pm

I've gone back and forth on his current songwriting approach. I don't love it. It's lazy in a lot of ways.

And yet he's not every guy you went to college with who tried to write songs with an acoustic guitar. He does make it sound that easy and simple, though.

Benji is good. There are some really good songs at the end of the record, and I also really like "Truck Driver" and "Jim Wise". There are some total duds on it, too. "Pray for Newtown" and "Dogs" are my least favorite.

In some ways I have a hard time with this album because of how deliberately Koz seems to be painting himself as a "good guy", especially coming after a record like Among the Leaves where he seemed like a lazy asshole with contempt for his audience. But some of these songs are just really good. Maybe not as good as "Gustavo" or "Livingstone Bramble" from his collabs last year, but still really good.

ptrck · **Joined:** Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:55 pm **Posts:** 5568

hes at least trended upward from his low point of AFP

Dick Meatwood · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:28 pm

I like AFP more than Benji.

Rick Derris · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:31 pm

Meh. Most of his stuff just seems interchangeable. I like April and Ghosts...and some Red House Painters stuff but don't really find myself needing to hear new material.

Dick Meatwood · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:51 pm

Still just a sad dude with a guitar!

Rick Derris · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:37 pm

Seriously, cheer up man.

saint · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:28 pm **Posts:** 4271

pinehurst Wrote:

I love the lyric about "coming home crying from kindergarten because I had to sit next to an albino" :lol:

omg, i was just laughing at this yesterday!! :mrgreen:

saint · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:28 pm **Posts:** 4271

Drinky Wrote:

I've gone back and forth on his current songwriting approach. I don't love it. It's lazy in a lot of ways.

And yet he's not every guy you went to college with who tried to write songs with an acoustic guitar. He does make it sound that easy and simple, though.

Benji is good. There are some really good songs at the end of the record, and I also really like "Truck Driver" and "Jim Wise". There are some total duds on it, too. "Pray for Newtown" and "Dogs" are my least favorite.

In some ways I have a hard time with this album because of how deliberately Koz seems to be painting himself as a "good guy", especially coming after a record like Among the Leaves where he seemed like a lazy asshole with contempt for his audience. But some of these songs are just really good. Maybe not as good as "Gustavo" or "Livingstone Bramble" from his collabs last year, but still really good.

i'm with you on what to think about this record. i like some of it. i really miss the salvador sanchez sound, which i just love to death.

FT · **Posted:** Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:32 am

Drinky Wrote:

I've gone back and forth on his current songwriting approach. I don't love it. It's lazy in a lot of ways.

And yet he's not every guy you went to college with who tried to write songs with an acoustic guitar. He does make it sound that easy and simple, though.

Benji is good. There are some really good songs at the end of the record, and I also really like "Truck Driver" and "Jim Wise". There are some total duds on it, too. "Pray for Newtown" and "Dogs" are my least favorite.

In some ways I have a hard time with this album because of how deliberately Koz seems to be painting himself as a "good guy", especially coming after a record like Among the Leaves where he seemed like a lazy asshole with contempt for his audience. But some of these songs are just really good. Maybe not as good as "Gustavo" or "Livingstone Bramble" from his collabs last year, but still really good.

I agree with much of this. There are definitely some good songs on here, and definitely some crappy ones. Overall, this album is probably a B- or so.

FT · **Posted:** Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:33 am

saint Wrote:

i really miss the salvador sanchez sound, which i just love to death.

YES

Cap'n Squirrgle · **Posted:** Wed Apr 09, 2014 1:06 pm

FT Wrote:

saint Wrote:

i really miss the salvador sanchez sound, which i just love to death.

YES

Toze finally got me to listen to that album a few months back, and yeah. Holy fuck.

Dick Meatwood · **Posted:** Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:01 pm

That's pretty much the consensus best Kozelek album. And I don't disagree with that.

There was a little bit of that sound on the album he did with Desertshore last year.

e-stone · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:26 pm

good songs on this album, yes...but i think i've reached Koz-saturation point.

rogneeb · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:07 pm **Posts:** 12618

I kind of liked it when I first listened to it but I have no desire to listen to it again really.

Cupcakes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 12, 2005 12:04 am **Posts:** 3271

rogneeb Wrote:

I kind of liked it when I first listened to it but I have no desire to listen to it again really.

every album.

Sun Kil Moon - Benji

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