But it's this raw, unedited feeling that makes Benji one of the most interesting releases of the last few months. Closing track, Ben's My Friend, for example, takes us through a day in the recording process of the album complete with Kozelek's memories of meeting Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard. The words are fairly prosaic and unstructured; Kozelek informally crams as many syllables into each line as he can just about get away with, and the chorus is simply a repetition of whatever line was said most recently. In one such chorus, Kozelek reminisces "staring at the walls covered in sports bar shit" and backing vocals chime in with a repetition of "Sports bar shit, sports bar shit". It could easily be one of the most ridiculous moments in rock music, instead it's heartfelt and tender.
Just as any Woody Allen fan will tell you, a really good artist doesn't have to write about wars and plague because there's already enough drama in the nuances of everyday life to be brought out. That's the exact trick that Sun Kil Moon master on every single track of Benji, and it's also exactly why a refrain of "sports bar shit" sung over bossa-nova style guitar is easily one of the most interesting choruses this year.
Benji is available on CD pre-order now from Caldo Verde Records
