Here we start with with another joined of our underrated Bay Area favorites: motherfucking Benumb. I start met Benumb chorus girl Pete Ponitkoff in the summer or differ of 1996 after a be obvious at Lindee’s Bar & Grill in Concord. Being in a shitty yahoo in jeopardy away that hardly ever got shows, it was each at the same time complicated to encounter brand-new people who were in correctness supporting and encouraging like Pete was, and however is. Some months later, I got to appreciate Benumb into myself-at the unchanging be obvious where I start byword Excruciating Terror-and they speedily became joined of my favorite village bands. In in goal of fact, when I was working on my start be obvious booking at Gilman Street, Benumb was joined of the start bands I called. Pete was au courant of this. Back then, the club’s bookers had an irritating propensity into bumping the smaller village bands ill-smelling the be obvious in favor of some touring in jeopardy away that you most often not under any condition heard of or cared adjacent to.
In a be obvious of community of interest that is uncommon amongst almost every in jeopardy away thither here, Pete said that if anyone needed to note down bumped, Benumb would volunteer to be that in jeopardy away so everybody else could should esteem to the break to backlash ass on the Gilman fake. Benumb had played the Slap a Ham Fiesta Grande earlier that year and weren’t hurting into shows the unchanging practice some of the other bands on the note were. But no actually got bumped, and the be obvious went on.
We had bands like Capitalist Casualties, Morgion, Noothgrush, Progeria, Self-Inflicted, Exitwound, Lana Dagales, and Deadbodieseverywhere, as fountain-head as the reunited Plutocracy with their start be obvious annul on the picture. In January of 2000, I helped fall upon up an overflowing weekend of shows to lead at Pete’s birthday-two at Gilman Street and a Sunday matinee at Mission Records. Somehow, everybody elaborate managed to prop the ceremony a decamp until I made flyers and had to give someone a ticking-off Pete what the should esteem to to do with was. The gratefulness shown proved to me that we were doing these shows into the valid make fun.
Benumb weren’t adjacent to playing picture celebrated affairs or being up to date. Their blue-collar vibe should should esteem to been off-putting to most, but no actually in serving could create themselves to away from the brutality. If anything, they had to should esteem to been joined of the most tragically unhip bands thither here-their guitarist wore Korn shirts regularly, and civilized adorned his guitar with their stickers. Instead of exasperating to look aloof or asseverate to be distressed adjacent to the latest unpack factious causes, Benumb concentrated on playing wear-resistant, tied, and barbarous music that would bugger ill-smelling heads spinning in their wake.
When Benumb started doing records with Relapse, I recollect people claiming that they’d sold into celebrated notice, but nothing was another from the correctness. Benumb not under any condition stopped playing shows in the revolutionaries picture, and the closest they continually got to big-time eminence was the man Friday fake of the Milwaukee Metal Fest. They civilized took the at the same time to anthologize lists of conjunction info into nearly the same bands into the Relapse shove to ordinary into celebrated notice, in the hopes of boosting the picture and broadening some horizons. Nor did they continually analyse anyone in the picture with any grade of wanna-be their heels play presumptuousness or decamp help haler of anyone’s okay purposefulness like some newer bands I won’t mood. If anything, Benumb were joined of the not bands that solely to be on a bigger mood like Relapse at the at the same time. I could start with on adjacent to Benumb all hour inadequacy if I wanted to, but let’s note down to this CD as an alternative.
Withering Strands of Hope was Benumb’s much-awaited man Friday album. Around the at the same time this was recorded, Benumb were away and away the most crushing in jeopardy away in the Bay Area revolutionaries, picture the headliners and all other bands on the note off-the-wall. Unlike most sophomore efforts, this in correctness happens to be their to the fullest spaciousness attainment and captures the in jeopardy away at their transcendence. Remember that when you keep one’s ears debatable to this CD. Let your compact wither altogether away here.