Brendan Benson
My Old, Familiar Friend - ATO
FILTER Grade: 69%

Taking a break from his residency in The Raconteurs, Benson returns to his Old, Familiar status as solo musician for the first time since 2005’s Alternative to Love. Gone is the crunchy, assertive pop of “Spit It Out,” replaced instead with a sunnier, annoyingly adolescent indecision over all matters in love. He fesses up to as much in lead track “A Whole Lot Better,” but I can’t keep up with where his head’s at every second—and don’t care to.