benjamins
By
Keavin Wiggins
Poppy alt-Punk has
some new heroes in the form of the Benjamins. This Milwaukee quartet delivers
an entertaining debut album, “The Art of Disappointment” that does not
live up to its name. Stradling the fence between Emo and Punk-pop The Benjamins
find a happy middle grand that’s melodic but still rocks and delivers fun
contemplative lyrics with songs like “Couch”, “Wonderful” and “Little Tin
Heart”. Sure we’ve heard similar stuff from Weezer - but hey this stuff
is cool, fun and a nice break from the mall-core stuff that we can’t seem
to escape from.
Live the Benjamins
take the energy up a notch and easily catch the attention of concertgoers
as I witnessed at a recent show where they opened up for label mates –
FenixTX. About 30 seconds into the first song the standing room only
crowd went straight to their feet and started swaying to music as the Benjamin’s
held them captivated with their poppy alt rock sound and energized live
presentation. It was hard to transverse the sea of young fans to get a
close look at the group so from my vantage point toward the back of the
hall I was able to witness them win over the hearts and ears of the crowd
and for an L.A. area club that is no easy task. It was disappointing when
the band finished their set but at least I had the CD to listen to on the
way home.
“The Art of
Disappointment” is a fine first effort and a nice diversion from all of
these groups that seem to take life and themselves way too seriously. Seeing
them perform live only solidifies the fact that these guys know what the
hell they are doing and can easily win over a crowd with their music. So
hats off to the Benjamins on a great debut CD that helps make the world
of rock a little richer.
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The
Bio
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“A stack of mix-tapes
brought me closer /And I know that it’s a modest melody / That sent you
out to find the perfect guy / But found you crashing into me”
That’s the halfway
point of “Sophia on the Stereo”, one insanely hooky chorus disguised as
a three-minute pop song and the perfect encapsulation of what The Benjamins
are: They’re the Cars filtered through Built To Spill and Weezer, cut with
just a dash of snotty, pop-punk for flavor. They’ve studied the history
of great melodic rock- from the Beatles and the Beach Boys to Blur and
Radiohead - and let it soak in, then promptly forgot everything but the
basics.
The Art of Disappointment
is the Milwaukee band’s first full-length, and its sound and songs belie
the youth of the quartet (barely a toddler at three years old) and its
members (let’s say “college-age.”) On the other hand, maybe it sounds just
like what it is - four twenty-somethings (singer Jay, drummer Jon, guitarist
Dan, and bassist Ben) already missing their late teens, and realizing that
maybe things don’t really change that much as you get older.
The Benjamins may
be the only band in the history of rock to be discovered by their bass
player: Ben saw the band (then featuring a different drummer) playing in
a Milwaukee dive and decided then and there that it was, indeed, all about
the Benjamins (sorry). By force of sheer will, he was soon their four-stringer,
and his best friend Jon was recruited to play drums not long after. With
this foursome solidly in place, things began to happen quickly.
Sometimes I think
of you, but it’s cool to be alone. It’s nice to not have to fight for my
blanket.
You’re not supposed
to work on Labor Day, but that’s exactly when The Benjamins recorded their
first CD in 1999, the magnificent Bordering On Boredom EP. These six songs
of broken-hearted bliss garnered them favorable regional attention after
they were released in February of 2000, almost one year to the day before
the release of, The Art of Disappointment, their Drive-Thru records debut.
How that happened is interesting, too. An action-packed live show (this
band hasn’t a hint of that “we’re so bored to be playing for you”-attitude)
won The Benjamins fans throughout the Midwest. One such fan (who also happened
to be a street team rep for Drive-Thru) interviewed the band for a punk
zine after a particularly fine night of rocking in lovely Green Bay, WI.
Continue
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