Dryvetyme Onlyne

Benjamin Bear
Lungs
Self-Released; 2008

Guest Contributor: Marc Brubaker

“Station Rest Release,” the opening track on Benjamin Bear’s debut album Lungs, may fade in unassumingly, but make no mistake: this Seattle based duo is not to be taken lightly. The chorus hits with crushing emotion, its syncopated percussion and strong, pleading vocals at once announcing the band’s arrival and inviting the listener along for a forty-five minute rollercoaster of alternating crescendos and decrescendos. Songwriting pair Mychal Cohen and David Stern has constructed a superbly expressive album that ranges from sparse piano-vocal combinations to epic pounding choruses.

Lungs is collection of dark, piano-driven pop that is constantly in motion. Cohen’s earnest voice is supplemented with the rich, unconventional swings in percussion that he and Stern have assembled. One cannot be certain if the songs are penned out of personal stories, but Cohen truly sings from his soul, giving the music the feeling that it was born out of real experiences. The evident anger and frustration in his voice, shared with the rhythmic swell of the piano and drums gives the entire album a grand feeling of catharsis.

Benjamin Bear has assembled a wonderful anthology of tracks whose rich sound builds until the final notes of album closer “Now That You Are Gone.” The depth of emotion and sound brings to mind other Seattle acts like Band of Horses and Damien Jurado, but Benjamin Bear has managed to create their own unique identity somewhere between the two. Every track on Lungs is strong, but when pressed to choose, the standouts are “Posterboy,” “Frictionless,” “God Damn Thing,” and “Now That You Are Gone.”

Honestly, it is quite hard to find fault with the album – Stern’s drumming is outstanding and inventive, and Cohen’s piano parts are not only well-written but also do a fine job at bearing the weight of his vocals. A casual listener trying to pick apart the album might try to make the argument that Cohen’s lyrics too frequently lean upon the clichés he employs, but to paraphrase what one writing professor once told me, ‘a good poet can turn a cliché upon its head, both refreshing and reinventing it.’ Benjamin Bear has accomplished this, not only in Cohen’s lyrics, but also by updating the stale notion of a singer-songwriter duo, giving it fresh legs upon which to stand and a shining example to follow.

Marc Brubaker is a graduate of Texas A&M University; he currently works as a photographer, curator, and barista extraordinaire who occasionally uses his Creative Writing degree. You can find his photography work at Click. Wind. Repeat.