Album Review: Benjy Davis Project

Benjy Davis Project
Lost Souls Like Us
[Rock Ridge Music]

The boys from Baton Rouge are generally known for writing beer swilling, bar room ballads that reek with an inherent sense of youthful antagonism; but with their fifth album they seem to have mellowed a bit. While it’s good that the band has grown, it kinda marks the end of an era now that they’ve stopped writing catchy, hook-laden rock songs about smoking weed, drinking beer, getting into bar brawls, as well as having as much meaningful and meaningless sex as possible.

Anyway…Lost Souls Like Us seems to be a record written less for bar rooms and more for pop-radio. Seeing as these guys have no problem crafting a song, you might find it surprising that no matter how good their albums are, they always seem to fall flat to their live shows. Their songs have always been compelling, with meticulous arrangements, and carefully crafted hooks; but Benjy & Co. have yet to fully capture that energy on any of their previous albums – More Than Local, The Practice Sessions, The Angie House, and Dust.

“Get High” does echo some of the sentiment of older BDP records…it still seems that the bite in his songwriting might have dulled a bit. However, on “Bite My Tongue” and “Iron Chair” we finally get a glimpse of the sharp, irreverent wit that sparked attention for the band’s earlier albums.

They truthfully they weren’t always resting on good-time party jams, and a majority of the record recalls some of their more nostalgic work. “Mississippi” is a love song to the neighboring state where the guys spend so much time playing and driving through. “Check Your Pockets” is a funky acoustic track that lets Davis wax poetic on second chances at childhood romance. And the closing “You Just Know” is the kind of earnest ballad that leaves you wondering if maybe there really is something called true love.

So I don’t fully know what to make of the adult Benjy. I do know that if these guys have found it necessary to grow-up…maybe it’s time for all of us to grow-up. And that is a sad, sad day.