Benjamins Chronicles Of The Garden State CD

Musically adequate but utterly faceless, the Benjamins' Chronicles of the Garden State is basic mainstream mall-punk circa 2007. Singer Joe DeGenarro's voice is as forgettable and bland as his lyrics, which are themselves weirdly cold and detached. It's as if someone tried to write about teenage angst without ever having actually experienced it, so random lines were merely taken out of the MySpace blogs of total strangers and strung together over third-generation emo-pop riffs cribbed from other, better records. The ultra-clean production keeps every note in its place, adding to the album's stilted, artificial vibe. There really isn't a hint of an honest emotion anywhere to be found on Chronicles of the Garden State. Even the title sounds like they're trying to remind their target audience of that movie they really liked a couple years ago. ~ Stewart Mason

The most sought after cover act in the NorthEastern U.S since the turn of the millennium, the band made the usually formidable transition to an original act a smooth one. After throwing original singles into their cover arsenal and gaining positive response, the band wrote, produced, and released, "GO", their first full-length CD in May of 2004. Its release marked a turning point in their career as musical artists. The album not only sold out, but solidified the respect the band earns from its fans as well as the gain of those not familiar with the group's musical and creative abilities.While maintaining their top cover act status and with fans everywhere clamoring for new original tracks, the band entered the recording studio. Under the pressure of the fans' high demand for quality, they emerged over a year later with their highly anticipated sophomore album "The Chronicles of the Garden State." Released nationwide in April of 2007 to critical acclaim, the band's star power shined bright with its "high energy, modern arena-rock" and was subsequently gobbled up by eager and adoring fans everywhere. The Benjamins have since received airplay from local and college radio stations in the the tri-state area including G ROCK and KC 101. They have also opened for national acts including: Cheap Trick, Goo Goo Dolls, Sponge, Third Eye Blind, Lost Prophets, and Lifehouse. With an aggressive grassroots-to-big-stages drive and no signs of slowing down, The Benjamins will continue to set the trend of an era and "rock out" for fans old and new in 2008 and beyond!

Recording information: Prime Time Studios, Yonkers, NY.

The Benjamins: Joe (vocals); Ant (guitar, background vocals); Ben (bass guitar, background vocals); Jeremy (drums).

Audio Mixer: Tarik Solangi.