Ben Kweller - Sha Sha (2002)When I came up with the concept for The Loop, one of the first records I thought about was Sha Sha. Over the past few weeks, I'd scan my list of records to revisit and I'd talk myself out of reviewing Sha Sha because I almost wanted to save it for a special occasion. But you know what? It just sounded really good for a long trek home on Monday night.
For what little spectacle was involved in circling back to this record the other night is what little spectacle is involved in this record as a whole. Amdist all the noise of my high school years, Kweller was such a refreshing change of pace, riding parallel to some of the jangle pop rock I had started to gravitate towards post-punk rock phase. I don't fully remember how Kweller came into my consciousness, although I do remember my good friend Ryan screenprinting a picture of himself brushing his teeth like on the album cover onto a tshirt, so maybe it came up in coversation.
This album is such a storyteller's record. I first owned the album on a mixtape my brother made, where the opening title track was cut off. Missing that part of the record is like missing the beginning of the story. Kweller performs with such child-like simplicity that it's impossible to place him on this rockstar pedestal. It's carried so much by his honest lyrics and some really fantastic melodies. His albums that followed also had some really catchy tunes, but this one exists in a place where my over-analytical music mind doesn't have to dissect it into a million pieces. It's just plain good, and that's okay, right?
When I think of this record, I think of this song.
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