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My Old, Familiar Friend

EMAILPRINTby Brendan Benson

Brendan Benson reviews
75
8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
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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.

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...

91

Entertainment Weekly

My Old, Familiar Friend is one warm power-pop bath 
after another, a cornucopia of oceanfront harmonies, plunky keys, and psychedelic marginalia.

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80

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.

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80

The Guardian

The 11 wonderful songs are worthy of the Beatles, but Benson's solo career has never really broken through.

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80

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.

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80

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]

75

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.

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74

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.

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70

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.

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70

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.

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70

Slant Magazine

Even at its stuffiest, Friend is a power-pop record that never skimps on the power.

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70

The New York Times

A sturdy power-pop effort in the Paul McCartney vein, it projects an air of self-effacement.

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70

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.

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60

musicOMH.com

My Old Familiar Friend seems to be an album with modest aspirations which, for the most part, it achieves.

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60

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.

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60

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.

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58

The Onion (A.V. Club)

How odd, then, that so much of Friend is a celebration of aimlessness that, coincidentally, quickly loses focus.

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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.

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