Benchmarks

Benchmarks

Our Undivided Attention

Sofaburn Records

Benchmarks is a Nashville three-piece that makes indie rock so melodic it turns power pop,   it's so catchy and powerful. With lead singer/songwriter Todd Farrell Jr.’s and Jack Whitis' clean, crisp production, and Mike Montgomery’s radio-ready mastering giving the sound just the right amount of grit and polish, it makes me wonder why this band isn’t huge, or at least well known. It is very easy to imagine them having hits.

The lyrics cover many difficult situations that invite confusion, maybe taking place over the course of a year, since the first song is titled “This Year” and the last “Next Year.” While they are never quite resolved, there is hope they will be and that things will be better as a result. But there’s also loneliness, boredom, listlessness, restlessness, and just being unsure of what to do. These songs aren’t dark or depressing, more like bursting with determination to see things through to whatever conclusion there will be, and just to take things as well as they can be taken. All in all, a really good album that flew underneath the radar. Don't let that continue. Pick it up.

Andrea Weiss