The Rebirth of Venus

Album review

Some gestures are just inherently icky no matter how well intentioned they are. For example, take Ben Lee's salute to femininity, The Rebirth of Venus. There's no doubt that Lee means well, that he intends his collection of sunny pop and singsong folk to bridge the chasm between genders and cultures across the world, that he truly does wonder "What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)?," as he does on the song that sets the tone for The Rebirth of Venus. Lee does wonder what's wrong about a boy playing with a Barbie doll and sees nothing wrong with claiming "I'm a Woman Too," a piece of hippie-dippy pop that seeks to inherit the throne of cluelessly sexist agitprop pop from John Lennon's "Woman Is the Nigger of the World," one of six songs Lee covers in an essentially acoustic bonus EP for Rebirth. Because Lee wears his open heart on his sleeve, it's hard to dislike the guy: his head's in the right place and he does have a way with an ingratiating hook, something that he unfortunately underscores with a gang of friends tunelessly chanting along with his choruses. Even if Lee's songs of solidarity are basically sweet in nature, his puppy-dog earnestness winds up being off-putting in the long run on The Rebirth of Venus -- halfway through the record, his quivering sensitivity turns the album into the aural equivalent of a guy who would rather stay up all night talking than making love, even when his lady friend is pulling him toward the bedroom.

© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo