by Rinjo Njori.

From the moment I put on this disc, how long did it take before the bells and whistles (or was synths and pianos?) were going off in my head? About sixty seconds passed before I started thinking Thom Yorke’s solo album, Muse, Radiohead, Siberian and a host of other bands that Benzos sound similar too. There is even a little Style Council and Police thrown in for good measure. What surprised me was that the dark imagery and the bands "look" was more similar too outcasts from the Deep Elm catalogue or second stage rejects from Sounds of the Underground. Instead Benzos, who obviously derive their name from the family of tranquilizers, joins some of the foot soldiers in reestablishing "indie rock" and make considerable headway during the course of the journey.

"Sell This Thing" opens the album and can't help but be compared to Thom Yorke's "The Eraser". Benzos wisely chose to liven up the delivery, but fall far short of giving their own song the swift kick which it needs. The title track fades nicely into the instrumental "Portland", displaying a nice mix of new, recent and classic alternative rock. Another instrumental, "Life", takes a similar approach with "robot" noises spending equal time with piano before fading into the deliberate "Hurt Everybody". At this point Christian Celaya sounds exactly like Muse's Matthew Bellamy. This song is far superior to the other tracks on the album. Other than the bass solo laced throughout the song, the instruments blend perfectly and the backing vocals seem void of imperfection. Whereas most of the other songs on the album feature one dominating instrument at a time.

Benzos Branches won't change the world or change the collective consciousness in that effortless Radiohead way. Nor are they going to hit you like a ton of bricks with an epic song like Muse. More likely they are one of the select bands helping reestablish modern indie music while never leaning too far into electronica or the traditional trappings of rock. Not everyone can be a leader, but Benzos prove that you can certainly aspire to inspiration.