If there was any doubt about Ben Folds’ ability to make an album without former bandmates Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee by his side, “Rockin’ The Suburbs” has washed it away.

The new album is distinctly Ben Folds in both style and song, and although it tends to be more melancholy than his previous albums with Ben Folds Five, it doesn’t hurt the record.

“Rockin’ The Suburbs” is aptly named. Almost every track on the record is about some tale that could only happen to people who lived in the suburbs and could only be sung by someone who has lived there.

The album seemed a bit campy at first, but after a few listens, it’s hard not to appreciate its completeness. The lyrics could be about any suburban dweller at any time, but Folds’ playing style distinctly gives it a 1980s feel.

With the usual piano style of Billy Joel and the occasional synthesizer thrown in for good measure, the record speaks volumes about why suburbs just aren’t what they used to be.

With that said, Folds’ usual humor shines through the gray clouds of the record, and his first single, “Rockin’ The Suburbs,” is also his most humorous.

But the title track is the one song that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest. It takes shots at the entire music industry, because much of it is now based on musicians who are “male, middle class and white.” And who can blame him?

It’s a relief that someone like Ben Folds came to make this record because it may give younger suburbanites a different and more intelligent perspective on what they can do with their music. Until “Rockin’ The Suburbs,” the only spokesman for “male, middle class and white” was Fred Durst and his rock-rap army.

At least Folds proves there is more to the suburbs than lyrically challenged rappers with turn tables.