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My Old, Familiar Friend
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: ATO
Release Date: 18 August 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
The Raconteurs band member releases his fourth solo album produced by Gil Norton.
Also By This Artist: The Alternative To Love
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers The Raconteurs: Consolers Of The Lonely
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
My Old, Familiar Friend is one warm power-pop bath after another, a cornucopia of oceanfront harmonies, plunky keys, and psychedelic marginalia.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Benson spent the early part of the decade building a repertoire of scruffy but sophisticated pop songs, but he fulfills his potential on this sparkling new set.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The 11 wonderful songs are worthy of the Beatles, but Benson's solo career has never really broken through.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
My Old, Familiar Friend isn’t afraid to show itself as exactly what it is: A classic pop record from an artist who has seen many sides of the spectrum and stays true to the melodies which carry him through his life.
Read Full Review >Mojo
His fourth album isn't quite as rich a powerpop confection as 2002's "Lapalco" but it still shows off songs as sweet and sharp as peanut brittle. [Sep 2009, p.104]
Los Angeles Times
That Benson probably already has a dozen as-good new arrows in the quiver is the curse of the prodigious. But with songs like these, as coy and shiny as new pennies, Benson's private hunt for airtight guitar pop is worth relishing.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Slower songs like “Gonowhere” and “You Make a Fool Out of Me” can be a drag, but what My Old, Familiar Friend lacks in consistency it more than compensates for with adventurous diversity.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Benson emphasizes the raw power of his riffs instead of polishing them into a smooth sheen. It's not as DIY charming as his earlier works, but it's pretty darned effective.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Even if he doesn't quite have the vocal presence to fully inhabit this stage, his taste and melodic skills are suited for this bigger scale so My Old, Familiar Friend winds up as an effective showcase for his craftsmanship even if it never quite grabs ahold the way "Lapalco" did.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Even at its stuffiest, Friend is a power-pop record that never skimps on the power.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
A sturdy power-pop effort in the Paul McCartney vein, it projects an air of self-effacement.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Benson's fourth solo jam is his first since the Raconteurs introduced him to the masses, which means now everybody gets to play catch-up with his skewed acumen for classic power pop in the Seventies AM-gold mode of Wings and ELO.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
My Old Familiar Friend seems to be an album with modest aspirations which, for the most part, it achieves.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
The Michigan singer-songwriter is now best known for providing the Raconteurs with tunes and his fourth solo album adds a splash of their heaviness to his trademark Beatles-indebted pop.
Read Full Review >Spin
Though Benson’s fourth solo album is less distinctive and more finessed than the work of his money gig, it still puts his secondhand fame in perspective.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
How odd, then, that so much of Friend is a celebration of aimlessness that, coincidentally, quickly loses focus.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Tony M gave it an8:
Stands up well against lapalco and alternative to love, any justice this album will make Benson better known for his solo work.
Ryan S. gave it an8:
Not as quite as good as 'Lapalco' or 'Alternative to Love' but still better than 95% of everything else out there - including both Raconteurs albums.