Ten Songs About You

If you were to mix a concoction of that preposterous Evan and Jaron acousto pop thing (from the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack, remember?) and some rather bland folkist whine there’s a possibility that maybe, just maybe, you’d come within punching distance of Ben & Jason. What with their inoffensive melodies, cutsie lyrics and the odd Jeff Buckley-esque high note, Ben & Jason cover that remotely credible sparse middle ground between vaguely familiar indie singer songwriter-ness and pure pop guitar music.

But it’s all just a little too twee. Their sincerity, whilst charming and sweet, is a tad on the sickening side; each song reminiscent of the previous, slow, soft and melodic with gently chiming guitars and tender vocals. Not a bad combination to say the least, but add in the aforementioned corollary instruments and repeat it oh, say, eight or nine times during the course of a ten track album and instead of forging a general, overall sound you’ve wound up with a samey, repetitive record with little in the way of scope or span.