New (to me) Artist of the Day – The Jack Bennies
Difficult to find a lot of info on this band, but here’s what we think we know about the band, after exhaustive* research:
– they may have six members (website lists Idle Edsel – Vocals, Bobby Conquer – Guitar, Paddy Bullocks – Guitar, Lance Brainstrong – Guitar, Johnny Davenport – Bass, and Jubal Fearing – Drums) or 9 (Facebook page has a different list of names, aside from repeat offender Fearing) – side note: 3 guitars!! suck that, .38 Special!;
– their name may actually be The Jacked Bennies (website is under this name, but not Facebook, and it also comes up on the google); not sure.
Here are the things we can say for sure about the band:
– they hail from the land of Gabe Kotter;
– members were previously in bands such as Saint Bastard and the Candy Snatchers;
– they kick butt.
Gloriously sloppy, sweaty, down and dirty rock and/or roll from NYC. Not young, perhaps, but definitely loud and snotty. Chancing upon a magical spike found lying, unassuming, in a trash-strewn alleyway in the Bowery, The Jack(ed) Bennies tapped the Dead Boys/Heartbreakers vein, throwing in some Stoogey proto-punk and Motör(head)boogie for good measure, vocalist Edsel/Diedrick snarling and yowling like the reincarnation of Stiv himself. Boss tunes that never go out of style.
Debut full length, Chopping Down the Weeds, is out now on Human Head Records and can be purchased through Goner, Slovenly or Juno in the UK, among other places. Go forth and like them on the usual social media blah blah and celebrate them live July 25 at Otto’s Shrunken Head, if you happen to live near New York City. Shout out to the mighty Late Risers’ Club for the pro tip.
Check out: “Sweet Sally”, “Plastic Pat”, “What You Want”.
*Actual research may not have been overly exhausting.