Teesside noise-makers Benefits today released a new single and announced the release date for their long-awaited debut album.
Formed in 2019, the band have made quite a name for themselves on the DIY punk scene, making their first appearance at the Rebellion Punk Music Festival in Blackpool last year.
Today they announced they have signed to Invada Records (home to Billy Nomates and BEAK>, among others), and released new single Warhorse, the first taste of the album Nails, which will follow on April 21.
If you’ve never heard them, Benefits have morphed from a hardcore band into something else entirely, melding ear-splitting noise with their furious modern take on punk rock.
From being spirited guitar-led punks they became brutal noise-wielders, whose furious, eviscerating music garnered them the kind of word of mouth following most artists can only dream of.
Frontman Kingsley Hall’s spoken (and screamed) vocals are a reaction to the divisive, xenophobic, poisonous rhetoric coming from elsewhere, spread by those who stand to profit from the fallout.
They have gained high-profile fans like Steve Albini and Sleaford Mods, as well as effusive coverage from the likes of NME, The Quietus, Loud & Quiet and The Guardian.
Through it all, Benefits remained staunchly DIY, operating without a label, press team or industry leg-ups. Now, however, they are stepping things up a level, signing to indie imprint Invada.
“We could have released a record at any point over the last couple of years, but held back because I wanted to wait until the right people came along,” says Hall.
The label’s co-founder Geoff Barrow of Portishead was one of many drawn to the band as they made waves online, and when he saw them perform live in his native Bristol he was hooked.
Nails captures all the rage that established them as one of the most exciting up and coming acts in the country – skull-crushing fan favourites Flag, Empire and Meat Teeth are all present and correct – but also pushes their sound into bold new territory.
Lead single Warhorse is a riposte to those who have questioned the band’s ‘punk’ credentials, with a series of crushing drum fills transformed into a relentless, inherently danceable electro banger.
“Sometimes we get all that ‘you’re shit, you’re not punk.’ Bullshit! Yes we are!” says Hall.
“Warhorse is a battle. It’s about being tired of being told there’s no options left – being told to bow and curtsy and to shut your face. Warhorse is about the need to push that boot back from our faces, raise our heads, stand up and fight.”
In support of their new album Benefits will head out on a headline UK tour in April, ahead of early festival dates across the EU and UK. Dates are as follows:
Tickets for all dates are available HERE.
