BLACK COTTAGE RECORDS

     "Faster Forward" is chock-full of jangle pop gems and wry contemplations of life ...Bennett uses an acoustic guitar and a sardonic wit with great aplomb. His sophisticated grown-up pop songs come on with jangle-pop ringing guitars and hooky choruses ... Overall, Bennett is an interesting performer. His songs exist outside of any current popular sound; an anachronism of songwriting and pop sensibilities." Paul Leeds, Culture Bunker,Los Angeles, CA

     Bennett prefers a minimalist feel to his sound…Which fits his wonderfully subversive noirs just fine. I've heard a few Bennett albums, and they're all great… Pain junkies, here's your next fix." Aiding & Abetting (Durham, NC)

     "Bennett's style is a rather unique concoction blending the retro sound with haunting dollops of British New Wave guitars and keyboards boxed into neat little pop structures... Overall the spell created is designed to keep us wondering and amused long enough to realize the wisdom of this sparkling music. Faster Forward harbors Bennett's dark musings to find a realist's contentment shining out." Monica Arrington, Southeastern Performer, Atlanta, GA.

     Craig Bennett lets fly on Faster Forward, asking the musical question, "Can the American South save Brit-pop? At a glance, Craig Bennett's Faster Forward seems to do with mid-70s Brit rock ... This reading, though, fails to do Faster Forward justice. It may be stylistically backward-looking, but the wink and nod are convincing enough to let you know that this isn't just in exercise in nostalgia.

     Bennett is a supremely gifted songwriter. The tunes are pop perfection, and there are virtually no static moments throughout the full 13-song album. Everything is up tempo, and the energy the music gives off is contagious. Bennett's lyrics are skewed and oddly angled views of the world. "My Muse Has Become a Nuisance" opens the album by casting the songwriter's muse as a real person, a disaffected thrift store clerk with whom Bennett has cell-phone conversations.

     She's a demanding one, too, reminding him that she "inspires all your sad songs about how life is so long." The album takes off from there, tripping and careening through whirlwind of unique observation, a lot like the Flaming Lips but with more irony, less sentimentality. If these are sad songs about how life is so long, they certainly aren't aimed at depressing you. More likely, Bennett is having fun with the notion of the world-weary, fretting modern (and usually British) pop songster.      It's worth pointing out that Bennett is from Georgia, so there is a lot of affectation here (he can't really sound that much like David Bowie, can he?), and I'm not saying that it isn't distracting sometimes, but the album succeeds anyway, due chiefly to the fact that songs just plain sound good. The melodies are tuneful, the arrangements work, the lyrics are confoundingly compelling, and what else do you need?" George Ford, DOA, Rochester,NY. 10/20/03