I’m surprised at how much less wispy Kozelek’s voice sounds on Benji. I thought it was an age thing, but he brings it back at certain points, so I don’t really like his alternate delivery.

A change I care for even less is how overtly literal, yet basic his lyrics are compared to when they used to be somewhat vague and even downright mysterious. Kozelek could balance his highly personal stories that bolted themselves down by referencing specific pop culture with an ambiguous emotional importance that made it easy for a third person to interpret into something equally personal for themselves.

Without that ambiguity I’m left wondering what the significance of many of these stories are. Why are they important to him? I often can’t tell because they aren’t important to me, either. More importantly though is that a lot of the melodies don’t really grab, and considering the song lengths that’s a fairly serious problem. Despite there being no “Carry Me Ohio,” it’s never too much of a drag, but I keep waiting for Kozelek to reach something greater than himself which never happens. And Kozelek himself might just not be interesting enough.

No low points and a few great high points with “Dogs,” “Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes,” “Michelene,” and “Ben’s My Friend” let the album leave with just a strong enough impression for a high rating. “Michelene” also sounds exactly like a popular radio country song I can’t fucking put my finger on, and it’s driving me insane.