Ben Kweller Gives Free Rein to His Emotions
Pop-punker Ben Kweller hits a couple of emotional notes with such accuracy and frequency that he ought to call his latest round of concerts the Anger and Anguish Management Tour.
Some musicians excel at venting rage, others at revealing hurt, but Kweller is one of the few who can do both convincingly in the same song, often within the same verse. And he’s one of the even rarer few who do so with instantly indelible melodic and lyrical hooks.
Working primarily from his solo debut album, “Sha Sha,” on Wednesday at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, the former frontman of punk trio Radish cut a figure that was part young Pete Townshend, part “Almost Famous” star Patrick Fugit. He jumped between piano and guitar from song to song with help from a three-piece band that could turn on a dime from alt-country to punk thrash.
Fans who packed the club sang along with nearly everything, a sign of the loyalty Kweller generates with songs that course through the briar patch of life without sacrificing a sense of humor.
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Randy Lewis
Ben Kweller, with My Morning Jacket and Pony League, appears tonight at the Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $10. (310) 278-9457.
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