Review: Ben Weasel – These Ones Are Bitter

If everything in the world worked out as it should, Ben Weasel would be rock n’ roll royalty. As a member of Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, and now solo, he has been churning out catchy and often provocative pop-punk songs for over twenty years. He has been both praised and criticized but has always come out on top. Ben Weasel should be king. In fact, he is the only guy that my wife has ever said she’d leave me for. No joke.

What I’m actually getting at here is that Ben Weasel has just released his first new album in 5 years and it is everything I’d hoped for and more. The album is called These Ones Are Bitter and I don’t want to sound like I’m exaggerating, but there isn’t a dull moment of filler on the entire album. It is stunningly phenomenal Ben Weasel penned pop punk which also features Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor from the All-American Rejects on guitar and drums respectively as well as Dan Andriano from Alkaline Trio on bass. I think I need to sit down before I hyperventilate here.

Ok, I think I’ll be fine. These Ones Are Bitter is a bit poppier and sunnier than Weasel’s last solo album Fidatevi and reminds me a lot of SW’s sound circa Bark Like A Dog. Polished and snappy pop-punk anthems that sound best with the windows down and the stereo loud. This album will most certainly be the soundtrack to the rest of our summer. These Ones Are Bitter has been released by Ben Weasel’s own label called Mendota Recording Co. in a digital-only format.

And as someone who owns every CD by all the aforementioned bands, my fair share of Screeching Weasel vinyl, and thousands of other discs and crates of vinyl all of which has been ripped to MP3 and is comfortably at home in my portable device, I can really appreciate the digital only release of These Ones Are Bitter. I buy everything I can in digital format, and it is my belief that digital-only releases will become much more prevalent in the coming years. With iPod equipped home and car stereos, who needs CD’s anymore? It is interesting but unsurprising that a punk like Ben Weasel (who has been online for as long as I can remember) is at the forefront of this technology revolution and fully embracing it.

If you like any sort of pop-punk or music at all, you’d be a dope if you didn’t check this out. Besides, the “If I’m going down…” refrain at the end of “Addition By Subtraction” gives me chills every time I hear it.

MP3 | Ben Weasel – Give It Time These Ones Are Bitter

Buy from eMusic or iTunes