Word: bensons
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...understand Brendan Benson’s current situation is to understand his past, and to understand his past is to understand upheaval. After spending childhood pinballing between his birthplace of Detroit and Louisiana, Benson eventually settled in Oakland, California, where in the mid-1990s he was discovered by Virgin Records and signed to a multi-album deal. Benson’s 1996 debut, Mississippi One, fell into the familiar rut of being critically acclaimed but commercially shunned, due in part to troubles with the record company. His first record has gone out of print, but since its release, Benson...
...Benson brought his sound and songs from Lapalco to TT the Bear’s in Davis Square on Jan. 18 as a part of a mini-northeastern tour. TT’s eclectic interior and core audience reflects everything that is “bitsa” (bitsa this, bitsa that) in Benson’s appearance and performance. Part bar, part stage, TT’s has a reputation with hip Cantabridgians for bringing bands a level up from obscure. Physically, Benson is a little slight, a little wiry, a little scruffy and a little handsome. Evoking...
...under-under-card for the Damn Personals, Benson strapped on a white guitar, took on TT’s minimalist stage and cramped confines and wordlessly launched into his 45-minute set with “Folk Singer” off Lapalco, from which he drew most of his performance. As a performer, Benson remained largely static and stone-faced (he left epileptic gyrations to his tambourine and maracas man), even failing to identify the members of his backup band. His workman-like approach brought focus more to the music than to performance, but also somewhat alienated an audience obviously...
...Lapalco, Benson sounds very much as he does in performance. The music runs far and wide from meditative to exuberant, driving to wispy, and at his heart, Benson exemplifies a kind of perpetual garage-band spirit but he manages to leave behind the negative baggage associated with that label. Neither Benson nor his rhythm guitarists ever take solos and stray away from founding chords in performance or on the album, but this is one damn good garage band. Benson Benson is a much better than average vocalist, his licks are compelling, and his experimentation within the garage idiom so refreshing...
...wrote seven tracks and shares authorship on the remaining five—shows that he’s done his musical homework. Parts of “What” pay homage to Iggy Pop’s “I am a Passenger,” and Benson astutely captures the California post-punk movement and adds to that Beach Boys influences on “I’m Easy.” The fusion is seamless and the result is supremely infectious music. Over the course of a week, I could not help but warm...