Saskatoon indie folk band plot CD release party at Amigos
With their album available for streaming on Exclaim’s website, the Young Benjamins’ latest album, Less Argue, has hardly been a secret leading up to the release party at Amigos this Friday, May 24.
It’s been just over a year since the group released their debut three song EP, and already the Benjamins have been signed to a label (Dollartone Records) and are getting on a bunch of summer festivals (Hillside Festival, MosoFest, Sled Island, Sask Jazz Fest, Ness Creek among others).
You’ve come a long way baby!
The album begins with “The Colonial Pt. 1 (You’re Only Twenty)”, a song fronted by multi-instrumentalist Vaero Poulin. It’s a bit of an off-kilter start – the sounds are fairly spacey and sparse. But it might be best to think of it as a bookend; the majority of Less Argue, led by front man Neusha Mofazzali, carry a much more robust flavour of indie, folk and traditional sounding instrumentation.
The four-piece meander through 11 tracks of typically upbeat pop anthems. Violin interludes wind themselves throughout driving percussion. But the band’s strengths lie in the vocals; tracks like “Common Thief” employ catchy choruses amidst eccentric-yet-danceable harmonies.
If there was one criticism to make it would be that Less Argue feels like a fairly short listen. The album can breeze by you if you’re not careful. That being said, it never feels like any less of a statement than it should be.
Catch the Young Benjamins this Friday at Amigos along with Indigo Joseph.