For years, Ben Harper has dutifully played the role of laid-back,
new-age hippie for glassy-eyed jam-band fans. His two-disc 2006
release, Both Sides of the Gun, was an ambitious song cycle that
threw some grit into his usually refined mix. The Austin musicians who
played on Gun return as the Relentless7 for White Lies for
Dark Times, a plugged-in, blister-popping album that stands as the
most electric in Harper’s 15-year career. On opener “Number With No
Name,” he rolls out a stomping blues as his new trio bashes away behind
him. And that’s pretty much how things play out; listen to the way
everyone plows through “Shimmer & Shine” or the way Harper’s
impassioned voice cracks on “Lay There & Hate Me.” White Lies
for Dark Times is still a jam-band record, but instead of winding
15-minute solos, it’s stuffed with three-and-a-half-minute songs based
on another fan favorite: volume. —Gallucci
This article appears in May 6-12, 2009.
