Ben Kweller – "Dollar Store (feat. Waxahatchee)"

From the first resonant note of “Dollar Store,” I knew Ben Kweller had me hooked… As if there was ever any doubt. For the first thirty seconds, BK lays out a mesmerizing guitar riff that acts as the song’s foundation. It’s a slow, solemn strum that evokes the downtrodden feel of various 90s greats–In it, I can hear shades of “All Apologies” and “Pictures of Success” or any number of tracks on the more lowkey end of Jets to Brazil’s discography. Maybe it’s just the guitar tone, but these are all songs with an uncanny ability to cast a spell on me from the first note and keep me transfixed the whole way through. 

Kweller soon sways into frame with a muttered barrage of half phrases that offer only the faintest of glimpses into scenes. 

Call it a day
Walking away
We hide
So we stay inside

By the one-minute mark, Kweller is singing the chorus, still downbeat and restrained, though now joined by Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and a lightly tapped cymbal keeping time. While Crutchfield’s presence is mostly relegated to subtle background vocals as she echoes each word in perfect time, that by no means underserves the song. On the contrary, it turns “Dollar Store” into a beautifully understated duet as the duo balance each other out before exploding into a passionate torrent for the final repetition. 

By the song’s final minute, all the gates are opened, doors blown open, and windows smashed. The once-contemplative guitar riff from the beginning morphs into this seismic wall of fuzz as the vocals turn to a cathartic shout. “I'm looking for some motivation / I dunno what I'm looking for.” As Kweller and Crutchfield wail “All that you want and more, more more-more more-more” over the garage rock guitars, it’s impossible not to be swept up in the same swelling feelings.