"Eulogy" by Ben Kenney

Ben Kenney is one talented dude, having been a member of The Roots (as a touring guitarist), and Time Lapse Consortium with future band-mates Mike Einziger and Jose Pasillas, he currently occupies the bass player slot in Incubus. Since joining Incubus, he's brought with him an element of influence from the seminal 80's power trio The Police, as evidenced by Incubus working "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" into live performances their own hit "Stellar", as well as Kenney's Sting-like bass playing.

Beyond that, the multi-instrumentalist has also released 3 solo records: "26", "Maduro", and most recently, "Distance and Comfort". "Eulogy" is from that album. For the last three or four days, I have been listening to this song on repeat, in my car, on my way to and from work. Can't get enough of the song.

My initial impression of the song was "This is what some of The Police's later output could have felt like had Sting not insisted on sharing writing credit with his ego". I mean, Kenney is dropping in some Stewart Copeland inspired drum parts, as well as a very Andy Summers-ish guitar solo! But at the same time, he's leaving his stamp all over the influence by not resorting to writing lyrics in simple couplets, or trying to be faux intellectual by paraphrasing Carl Jung. OK, maybe I'm being too hard on the Stinger. To be honest, I'm a huge fan of the Police, but let's face it, by Synchronicity, it seemed like Sting wasn't even trying to be witty and clever any more.

But, I digress. The "Eulogy" lyrics are a contemplative piece, presented with simplicity, and woven around a soaring melody. Lines like If I die from/something so much less than smart/know you've always held my heart/even if we're torn apart ooze a bit of sincerity without oozing sap. And, OK he did sneak in some couplets, didn't he?

That aside, the riff is catchy as hell, and the solo made as much of the sustained notes and guitar harmonies as it does the spaces between those notes, kicking the level of atmosphere up a few notches. But what has been really getting into my head lately is the beat. There's a pervasive groove that makes its strongest statements when he lays off the bass drum, filling the space with the doubled high-hat and snare drum. But that's just the first verse. One of my favorite moments comes in the second half of the second verse, when Ben starts tagging that ride cymbal, and hitting the high-hat AND hitting the snare steadily on the 2 and 4. Needless to say, this is not an easy song for me to play on air-drums.

Maybe my words don't do the song justice. Check out this awesome video of the man playing the song himself. And prepare to be dazzled.




In a word: badass. If you dig this, make it a point to check out the rest of Ben Kenney's output, including his work on the most recent Incubus releases (starting with "A Crow Left of the Murder").

That's all I got. Keep checking this space for more musings on music.

Farewell citizens.

Justin

Edited to make the video fit better.