By: David Schultz

This past Monday night, New York baseball fans watched in horror as their beloved Yankees were outplayed and ushered out of the post-season by the Cleveland Indians. While The Tribe were setting the stage for their celebration in The House That Ruth Built, a lesser heralded group of New Yorkers known as Benzos were putting on a much more competent display just a few miles south at The Mercury Lounge. Playing before a crowd filled with people who had no interest in playoff baseball (the non-sports minded and Mets fans), Benzos played an expansive fifty minute set heavy on their indie-rock take on Radiohead-style cerebral melodies.

Avoiding shoegazing monotony, Benzos let their music carry the show; a feat their electro-melodious tunes can do quite ably. Guitarists Brian Joyce and Christian Celaya create a nice wash of sound with their dual guitar blitz and their guitar soundscapes result in Eiko Peck’s bass and Steve Bryant’s drums having a more powerful impact. There’s some art afoot in Benzos’ moody, slightly haunting songs. They give most of their songs room to breathe, drawing you in with their various grooves with their affinity for electronically generated beats creating a small indie-rave atmosphere. They immersed themselves in tracks from their latest album Branches and when they sit back and concentrate on their instruments; it becomes easy to see how they’ve made inroads into the jamband world.

Perhaps in need of a fifth Benzo, Celaya needed an extra pair of hands as he moved between his guitar and a small keyboard setup. For the songs that required both, like “Hurt Everybody,” Celaya triggered a pre-programmed loop to generate the repetitive beat. On those occasions, the band did a fine job of keeping the recorded track in the background, letting Bryant’s nimble drumming and Peck’s simple but effective bass provide the true skittish rhythm.

Unlike the baseball team from the Bronx, Benzos will continue to play in October. As the CMJ Festival descends on New York City, Benzos will be one of the busier bands playing showcases at Brooklyn’s Southpaw, the Blender Theater, R Bar and Pianos.