Ben Folds Five

Article in Q Magazine, July 1996

By John Harris

"Despite their lank-haired appearance, and roots in the grunged-out milieu of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ben Folds Five (who are-save our sides-a trio) are anything but archetypal yankee college rockers. Forsaking the guitar completely, they opt instead for a skewed combination of drums, grand piano and fuzzed-up bass, and come out sounding like the very essence of blue-eyed Americana. Jackson Cannery, the delirious Where's Summer B.?, and Best Immitation of Myself suggest no one so much as Todd Rundgren circa Something/Anything, although a liking for Californian pastichers Jellyfish is also a distinct possibility. All that aside, this album-described by the band, in an act of unnecessary self-debunkage, as 'music for sissies,'-is gorgeous."

Thanks to Cynthia Wang