Song Of The Day: Ben Kweller — “Careless”

Ben Kweller Is Packing Some Angst In His New Single Inspired By Brushing Off Bullies And Giving The Finger To Fitting In.

Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.

Ben Kweller – “Heart Attack Kid.”
RIYL: Standing up to bullies.
What else you should know: Ben Kweller isn’t taking his foot off the pedal of his comeback train with a new single and its accompanying video.

Opening with a growl from bassist Matt McDonald, “Careless” barrels into three and a half minutes of the perfect union of indie-rock and power-pop. And with just enough angst in time for back to school season, the track is ode to fans who have been dealt with bullies and (or) not fitting in. Fuck yeah.

Regarding the inspiration for the song, Kweller writes in the video’s description, “This song goes out to the 3,000,000 kids bullied every year in the USA. It’s a middle finger to the bullies who judge and it’s a shot in the arm to the victims. If you’re heading back to school this month, or if you’re out of school and still struggling in any way, trying to fit in, I want you to know that you don’t have to fit in. You can walk your own beautiful path and hold your head up high.”

Lyrically, Kweller is declarative and catchy with “I’m the girl in zebra tights dressed in black / I know who I am so get the fuck off my back,” following a similar sentiment of “Stand up and come to your senses / I got your back heart attack kid” from his official comeback single earlier this year after a five year absence.

Five years seems worth the wait from Kweller in this new era, though. At least to hold us over until his forthcoming album Circuit Boredom drops later this year.