This Santa Rosa-based threesome doesn't sacrifice volume for intimacy, creating a hailstorm of songs on GUILT BEATS HATE that are as brutal as they are tender. Intelligent, electrifying and addictive, BENTON FALLS fuse together disparate genres to compose songs with lush, luminous segments that shatter unpredictably with bursts of aggression and intensity. Keenly aware of how even the slightest time change creates suspense, they alter tempo with impeccable precision and startling tightness - Benton Falls' most identifiable aesthetic - teetering dynamically between introspection and rage. Michael Richardson's glistening voice, impassioned screams, penetrating lyrics and sharp guitars combined with Eli Deering's deftly deployed drum sounds and Vance Gore's thunderous bass lines result in masterful narratives about frustration, struggle, uncertainty and inevitability...human nature's weaker moments. GUILT BEATS HATE is a breath of fresh air and dazzling display of maturity that will be appreciated, celebrated and revered by both hardcore and post-punk fans for many years to come.
Dynamic, enveloping, trance-inducing, the songs on FIGHTING STARLIGHT feed off one another to a point where you wonder how four individuals can be so uncannily attuned to an invisible pulse...the heartbeat of a band. The rhythm sprinting with intelligent restraint and slowing with gentle deliberation, the result is cohesive, tight and cuts a groove that absorbs both the complexity and ingenuity of the music. Due in part to the distinctive vocals of Richardson, the collective voice of Benton Falls is vibrant, rich and full. The band's persona becomes that of the storyteller...with words and tempo embracing the ideal amount of inflection and pitch to convey a complete range of emotion. FIGHTING STARLIGHT is like dusk in Autumn...that moment when we're grasping for the last few seconds of vanishing daylight. The time when the sun warms the sky with lustrous tones of orange and red, and the deep blue of night creeps up from behind us, mixing like water and oil on the horizon. This is the instant when we're fighting starlight...it's complacency mixed with action, change evolving from trial and tribulation, the realization that "in-between" sometimes feels like the safest place to be. Benton Falls is crisp, bright and as hard as it will be to believe, yes my friends, this is their debut.
BENTON FALLS is Michael Richardson (vocals, guitar), Vance Gore (bass) and Eli Deering (drums). The band resides in Santa Rosa, California. GUILT BEATS HATE was recorded by Matt Bayles (Sharks Keep Moving, Rocky Votolato, Botch, Murder City Devils) in June 2002 at Avast Recording in Seattle. FIGHTING STARLIGHT was recorded in November 2000 by Ed Rose (The Appleseed Cast, Get Up Kids, Brandtson, Coalesce, The Casket Lottery) at Red House Recording in Eudora, Kansas. Ryan Gerber (ex-Ethel Meserve) played guitar. BENTON FALLS also appears on Deep Elm's "The Silence In My Heart: The Emo Diaries, Chapter Six" with an unreleased song "Tell Him."
