I first heard of Australian band The Bennies through The
Smith Street Band. I was watching a live video of Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams
from The Fest 12 and during an introduction to the song they mentioned this
band called The Bennies who are their best friends. With a spare evening on my
hands I decided to check them out by reviewing their album Rainbows In Space.
Here is what I thought.
Naively I assumed that because The Smith Street Band play
folk punk songs that The Bennies would do the same. I was extremely wrong. It
was very closed minded of me to think because one band plays a certain type I shouldn’t
assume that their friends must do as well. You may have gathered that I love
punk rock music; one of my oldest and dearest friends (except when he
challenges me to do stupid things for hugs and doesn’t pay up) loves classical
music. But I digress......as soon as I pressed play The Bennies excitable, high
energy sound hit me like a balloon to the face, it was time to party!
Kicking off the record is the synth heavy Party Smashers.
The synth accompanied by a thumping drumbeat and lead singer Anty’s raw singing
style where is Australian accent is very distinct. Straight away this song has
you banging your head and wanting more. The Bennies follow up this chaotic
opener with the excellent ska punk song, Anywhere You Want Go. The upbeat
guitar riff and the bouncy bass line will have you skanking instantly and the
chorus of “he! Ho! Anywhere You Wanna Go” will instantly be stuck in your head
and you won’t be able to help but sing along.
Ice Cold Beers And Juicy Juicy Buds is a more restrained
song. The energy and upbeat nature The Bennies have already laid down in the
opening couple of songs is still there but it all feels more controlled. The
feeling of restraint continues with Sensi-mi. This is a slow reggae punk song.
I should maybe mention now that The Bennies sing a lot about drugs, and many of
their songs reference them. Sensi-mi is one of them, ignoring the politics of people’s
opinions on drugs you can’t help but smile at some of the lyrics in the song.
Track five, It Goes Without Saying is another instant party
starter. The raw ska style is back with some great gang vocals during the
chorus. I imagine this is great fun in the live arena, getting sweaty and
having a good skank in the pit for the verses before grabbing the nearest
person to you, putting your arm around them and belting out the chorus as loud
as you can with the band.
Track six is another chilled out song on the subject of the
drugs. The bass takes the lead in this song accompanied by some DJ scratching and
some guitar upstrokes. The song is pretty simple and if you’re a fan of stoner
rock you will love it. Knights Forever picks the tempo back up, it’s a song
about youth, when you would stay out until the sun comes up. It’s another song
with an extremely catchy chorus, some more gang vocals and a fun handclapping
section.
There is a brief musical interlude with the psychedelic License
To Chill which calms the party down until the next track Highrider begins.
Another high octane crowd pleaser with a catchy chorus complete with some na na
na na na na’s , fun ska beat and some great fist in the air moments.
Hold On goes back to the reggae punk style, this slows the
party down for a moment the next song Frankston Girls blasts off. This song hits
you like a train, with by far the heaviest riffs on the album. This is a full
on hardcore song, Anty’s hardcore screams put many singers who are in the genre
to shame with its raw animal like screams.
The party returns to a more happy smiling good time with the
next song, Westgate Wednesday. It’s a short skankable song complete with the
ska war cry of “pick-it-up-pick-it-up-pick-it-up. Auto Party Pilot is another
high energy chaotic song and is one of the more aggressive on Rainbows From
Space. Anty screams out “we don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn” and “King
Kong ain’t got shit on me” either side of a brilliant guitar solo from
guitarist Jules. The album finishes with Sky High. Combining many different styles
including reggae, electronica and dub Sky High brings this party a close with
satisfying conclusion.
Rainbows In Space is a brilliant brilliant album. I’m a huge
fan of ska punk music and this is as good if not better than anything I’ve
heard from the genre in quite a while. And it came from such an unexpected
source. It made me want to dance whilst I was typing this, it had me singing
along after one listen, it reminds me why I love ska music so much – its bloody
good fun! Now all I want to do is see The Bennies live, Anty, Jules, Bowie and
Craig if you’re reading this find a way to get other to England now. I want to
come to one of your parties.
Stream and buy Rainbows In Space here: https://thebennies.bandcamp.com/
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