On Rockin', Folds adds more offbeat ditties to his repertoire, singing about everything from growing up ("Everybody knows it sucks," he laments on "Still Fighting It"), to being stood up on a date ("You see this is why I'd rather be alone" says the protagonist in "Annie Waits"). On the title track, the poster-boy for suburban sarcasm sings -- in his best blink-182 imitation -- "Y'all don't know what it's like/Being male, middle-class and white." Then, suddenly, Ben Folds turns into Rage Against the Machine, howling, "It gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna say, Fu-u-u-u-u-u-ck." (The song even features -- get this -- guitars, played by Folds himself.)
Meanwhile, on the pseudo-lounge "Fired," Folds croons about someone who just wants to sneak away ("I'm just an ordinary guy/And all I want is to be loved"), producing more chorusy oh-ohs and ah-ahs than a Billy Joel song. Elsewhere, on standout "The Ascent of Stan" -- full of keyboards, organs, bells and a shaker -- Folds demonstrates a certain prog rock-meets-Elton John quality, singing "Being poor was not such a drag in hindsight" in a way that, well, makes you believe he means it.
Folds once said that it's not hard to write a catchy song if you know how, and, as if to prove it, he's gone and written an album chock-full of catchy songs. With eight hits, everyone would be kissing his ass, he said. He may be right, and you may want to pucker up. Just in case.