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Radar Report
Coney Island's famous Cyclone roller coaster served not only as a backdrop to singer/songwriter Brendan Benson's outdoor performance at this summer's Siren Music Festival, but also as an apt metaphor for his career to date. In the mid 90s, Benson sparked a major label bidding war based on his self-produced demos. But after his debut album and power pop tour de force, One Mississippi, was released and failed to deliver on sales, he was dropped. When his 2002 release (another self-produced effort), Lapalco, on the Brooklyn indie label, StarTime International, garnered considerable critical acclaim, major labels began to sniff again around his door.
You can't keep a good songwriter down. Today, the Detroit native is back on a major label, V2, with yet another self-produced collection of power pop classics, Alternative to Love; he's on a world tour, sometimes opening for fellow Detroit duo The White Stripes; and indulging his passion for collaboration, producing records for fellow V2 band Blanche and garage-rockers The Greenhornes and working on a side project with the White Stripes' Jack White.
It makes sense that Benson and White would find a kindred spirit in each other. They both like to record themselves and not have to answer to anybody else musically. That's one of the reasons Benson records himself at home and plays all of the instruments on his albums. "I get all of these ideas," says Benson. They're just coming like rapid-fire and I have to put them down. I think that, in the end, I'll go through this and I'll figure out what works and what doesn't. Invariably in the end, I can't decide what doesn't work. So, I leave it all in there."
This approach has obviously served Benson well. Alternative to Love offers up a bounty of unbridled melodic rock, from the joyous, chugging guitar drive of "Spit it Out" to the bittersweet 70s spirit of "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)" to the Spectoresque sound of "The Pledge." As someone who has spent much of his time, by himself, recording his music in the comfort and isolation of his own home, Benson admits that it took him awhile to enjoy playing live. With a tour that includes several dates at some of England's notorious outdoor rock festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds as well as some German and Scandinavian festivals, he says he is now having a great time on stage.
"I never used to like touring at all because I wasn't very confident playing live. Now, I'm just feeling more and more confident and, in turn, having a lot more fun. I also have a great band, so it's cool."
by Erik Philbrook
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BRENDAN BENSON's homegrown pop breaks out
