By the time Brett Dennen took the stage Tuesday night at the Bowery Ballroom, the modestly-sized venue had reached standing room capacity. It was a khaki-colored sea of enthused co-eds, toothy Econ majors clutching plastic cups of Stella, uniformly bopping their heads in stiff rhythmic intervals. But despite the awkward campus demographic, Dennen’s good boy looks and earnest, chill sensibility made for a jovial, if conventional, pop show.
Dennen’s style fits comfortably in the pocket of mainstream folk nouveau, with shades of jam band gaiety (minus the ability to inspire shirtless hackysack). He’s been compared to Jack Johnson and has toured with John Mayer, two musicians that once dominated Top 40 radio but have steadily declined in cultural relevance, occasionally re-emerging as background noise on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy or as man-candy for B-list pop starlets. If the shelf life for catchy songwriting of this vein is, roughly, five years, then I would suggest that Dennen enjoy his fruits. Because, while it’s obvious that the boy has a flair for arousing “woos” and high-fives and beer salutes, I wonder if his music possesses the kind of edge that breeds longevity.
Tuesday’s show was all very familiar. I enjoyed a live version of “Ain’t No Reason,” one of his strongest tracks, and “Darlin’ Do Not Fear” kind of made me want to lace up my Docs and maybe organize an impromptu backyard bonfire. Had there been a few less imported beers and a few more Dave Matthews covers, I would be convinced that the Bowery is actually a front for a super-secret government time travel experiment that transports unknowing New Yorkers back to their years as Midwest college kids.
Perhaps I’m being unfairly critical. Lyrically, Dennen is more than a cut above “Your Body is a Wonderland,” which is reason enough to celebrate. In fact, “Ain’t No Reason” is quite poignant in its simplicity, a gentle meditation on finding meaning from a life resigned to work and pain: “love will come set me free.” He believes this. And perhaps sincerity will be his salvation. We’ll find out in five years time.
For more information on Brett Dennen and for a listing of tour dates, visit www.brettdennen.net or www.myspace.com/brettdennen.
-Lara
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