Ben Lee
Ripe
New West
The more spiritually enlightened Ben Lee becomes, the more bite his music seems to lose. But damn if it isn’t catchy! The songs have moved away from Awake is the New Sleep’s “the world is awesome” tactic and into “love is awesome” on Ripe. There’s also a sweet homage to Lee’s hero on “What Would Jay-Z Do?” and the Australian’s take on US pop culture in “American Television.” Similar way to a lot of Christian rock you can hear all the cues if you’re looking for them (“Just Say Yes,” “Ripe”). You’ll also hear some parallels with Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” during the opening stomp of “Sex Without Love. So there you go.
Tara Thorne
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.