Additional personnel: Ted Ehrhard (violin, viola); Chris Eubanks (cello).

Recorded at Wave Castle, North Carolina in February 1995.

All songs written by Ben Folds except "Where's Summer B.?" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee), "Alice Childress" and "The Last Polka" (Ben Folds/Anna Goodman).

In the mid-1990s, while legions of angst-ridden, guitar-brandishing alternative-rock groups were riding the post-Nirvana wave of success, North Carolina's Ben Folds Five quietly released its self-titled debut, which featured very little angst and no guitars. Cheeky even in name (the ensemble is actually a trio), the band presents a highly melodic fully formed sound, with Ben Folds's emotive vocals, witty lyrics, and energetic piano playing coasting gleefully over the rhythms of bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee.

While Joe Jackson, Randy Newman, Elton John, and other like-minded performers are immediately clear as influences, Folds establishes his own identity with a quirky indie-rock aesthetic, whether he's offering up odes to production lines (the buoyant "Jackson Cannery"), anti-love songs (the gleeful "Julianne"), or eccentric character sketches (the lively "Uncle Walter"). BEN FOLDS FIVE's crowning moment, however, is the infectious, falsetto-laden "Underground," which skewers the college-rock scene with smarts and killer songcraft. For fans of Folds--and melodic, piano-driven pop in general--this record is essential.

The debut album from piano-playing Ben Folds' smart-ass trio is a potent, and extremely fun, collection of postmodern rock ditties that comes off as a pleasantly workable combination of Tin Pan Alley showmanship, Todd Rundgren-style power pop, and myriad alt-rock sensibilities. The gimmick here is that not a single guitar was used on the 12 songs; but the way that Folds and his bandmates unravel their instruments (piano, bass, and drums make up this combo), even the most hardened noise enthusiasts will hardly miss it (it's the melodies that carry this album, and Folds has plenty of them up his sleeve). Some of it is a bit coy -- Folds plays the joker as much as he does the musician -- but with the dead-on "Underground," they manage to skewer, and pay loving tribute, to the oh-so-hip indie scene from which they came. ~ Michael Gallucci