Ben Davis' second solo record is a marvelous swirl of '70s piano balladry ("Departure Warning"),
Elliott Smith-styled folk-pop ("Old and Played"), and surreal, psyche-tinged rock worthy of
Mercury Rev ("Blue-Hearted Sleeve"). But far from sullen, the record is a hazy interpretation of everything from late-period
Beatles to Village Green-era
Kinks to
Pink Floyd. Just when songs like the slinky "In Either Words" seem to bear the post-rock trademarks of Davis' groups
Sleepytime Trio and
Bats & Mice, the melody will shift to a pure pop hook or
Beatlesque harmonies will slip into the mix. And while
Aided & Abetted isn't as memorable as
Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs or
Elliott Smith albums like
XO or
Figure 8, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything on the entire record that isn't good. At it's best,
Aided & Abetted represents the work of a musician freeing himself from whatever genre constraints he has previously been bound by, and going in whatever direction he wants. And it's this kind of songwriting that often creates the most thought-provoking records in an artist's catalog. ~ Charles Spano