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'The Rules' is the first song to be lifted from BK's second album 'On My Way' and is indicative of both the musical style of this album and Kweller's writing style. The lead track is one of the two standout tracks from the album, upbeat and delivered with a vocal edge that wasn't apparent on older material. For someone who covers 'Ice Ice Baby' regularly on the live circuit, this is a surprisingly serious song about the rules of relationships ("Show me all the rules girl/I just wanna get them wrong"), and whist the guitars are quite clean-sounding the various pauses in this song (as well as the razor sharp vocal delivery) mean that this song actually ends up rocking surprisingly hard. This means that it will appeal to both fans of his twee side (think maybe Death Cab For Cutie or The Moldy Peaches) but also it will stand in good stead with the mainstream indie bunch who like The Vines and crap like that. As an added touch, it's only when you really sit down and listen that you realise this isn't in the standard rock time signature, it's actually written 3 beats to a bar. For anyone else, this song would come across as a kind of waltz, but this is Ben Kweller and he doesn't do what he's supposed to.Included on the single alongside the title track are two b-sides 'I Quit' and 'Tylenol', both of which are standard Kweller songs. The former is an inoffensive soft tune, where BK swaps his venomous vocals for the most endearing wussy voice he can muster. The latter of the two b-sides meanwhile is something more original and showcases how kooky he can be, as BK lists different methods of helping him get over various problems someone is causing him. We start with "give me some Tylenol to kill that headache you gave me" and move through various drugs and methods. The best touch is that the tempo changes with the different topics until eventually we hit hard rock (that's machine guns, in case you were wondering) and some naughty words are delivered with a vocal style that can only be described as gleeful. Whilst this song is amusing for a while and easily the better of the two b-sides, there's still very little to keep you coming back if you already have the album.So, if you already have the lead track from this single, there's not a lot here that merits you buying it (unless you're a collector), but for anyone who is new to Ben Kweller and likes indie-rock stuff (Vines, Kings of Leon, that kinda thing) and doesn't want to commit to buying an album this is as good a place as any to start.

Rating: 4 out of 5