Oklahoma emo band Ben Quad is a lot like Billy Talent in that they're an emo four-piece who play under the designation of a single dude's name- a name that is not shared by any of its individual members (at least not yet and at least not legally). That's where their similarities to Billy Talent end, though. For better and for worse (I happen to like Billy Talent quite a bit... you might give them the gong. I would not). On Ben Quad's first LP I'm Scared That's All There Is, the group displays a powerful binary ability for belting out big, yank-on-your-heartstrings, punk-pop choruses while winding through mazes of skronky, sparkle-shine guitars. These aspects of their sound justifiably anchor them in the center of an American Football, Promise Ring, Cap'n Jazz, and Elliot (to name drop another band with a person's name as their name) four-square of catchy introspection, maturing punk attitude, DIY passion, and firm dynamics that are pliable enough to fit any mood a young person might dwell on long enough to pen a song about. In true Mid-Western style, Ben Quad aren't afraid to run their output through a couple of different guitar pedals when plunging into their songs, and they do so in a way that I don't often hear in emo, and which lends them a bit more of a bar-band thump and big-shouldered umph than you might expect. I definitely enjoy the subtle but effective manipulation of different waves of distortion on "Joan of Hill" where sunny echos and liquid halos of sound dive for cover under a roll-out of sharp thunderous distortion once the chorus picks up steam, with the song reaching its climax in the third verse, a section where singer Sam Wegrzynski screams, with increasing abandon, "Recycled pace designed to break / Throw me away / It was always my fate," as if he's afraid it's the last thing he'll ever have a chance to say. It's an impressive and inspired end to the album that wasn't short of pleasing moments to begin with. But if you are just here for the genre standards, there are plenty of those on I'm Scared That's All There Is as well. Lightening figures math riffs dominate tracks like "Blood for the Blood God" and "We're Gonna Be Here for a While" which will take you from 0 to 60 in a single tear-jerking sprint before lunging into some satisfying, crowd-surfable gang vocals. Even in light of their consistently glistening guitar work, Ben Quad's songs never feel wanting for heft, with the beat and grooves on tracks "You Gotta Learn to Listen, Lou" and "It's a Kinkade!" evidencing just how substantially the essence of taut, old school, punk rock fundamentals manifest within their playing style. There are very few parts of their record where Ben Quad doesn't exhibit an equal commitment to pumping up your adrenaline as to any abstract reflection on emotions. It's amusing to me that they called their record I'm Scared That's All There Is, because every time I listen to it, I find something else I like about it.
