{"title":"Benefits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn issues based music collective from Teesside in the North East of England. We write songs about the urgencies that concern us. These songs are loud.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWelcome to our artist page! We are a passionate and dynamic music collective hailing from Teesside, located in the vibrant North East of England. Our mission is simple: to create powerful and impactful songs that address pressing issues close to our hearts. Through our music, we aim to shed light on urgent matters that demand attention and action. From social injustices to environmental concerns, we fearlessly tackle these topics with an unapologetically loud sound that resonates with listeners worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a strong sense of purpose, we use our platform as musicians to raise awareness and inspire change. Our lyrics delve deep into the complexities of society, offering thought-provoking perspectives on the challenges we face today. Each song is carefully crafted with heartfelt emotion and an unwavering commitment to making a difference through art.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"flag-empire","title":"Flag \/ Empire","description":"\u003cp\u003eBenefits are an issues-based music collective from Teesside in the North East of England. They write songs about the urgencies that concern them, and they play them loud. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForming in 2019 and consisting of Kingsley Hall on vocals, Robbie Major and Hugh Major on synths and noise, and Jonny Snowball on drums they quickly evolved from a standard shouty punk rock outfit into a minimalist, overtly political band that merges noise, hip hop and industrial rock, creating an effect that feels urgent, darkly hilarious and unsettling all at once. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThus far Benefits have been completely DIY, yet via a succession of digital singles and accompanying videos through 2021 they built a following that enabled them to complete a sold-out headline UK tour in March 2022. They also gained fans in high places including Sleaford Mods, Black Francis, Garbage and Elijah Wood and Steve \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlbini. James and Ryan of Yard Act were also instant admirers and that’s where their label Zen F.C. Ltd comes in. Using their ill gotten major label gains Zen F.C press Benefit’s single Flag (backed with Empire ) on vinyl, Benefit’s first non-digital offering, for release on 3 June in time for the Jubilee jamboree. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn working with Yard Act, Kingsley comments: “I think Benefits come at some of the same subject matter that they talk about but from a slightly different angle, (and by \"slightly different\" I really mean \"more frequent swearing\", though we've never said the C word in a song unlike...ahem.). We appreciate every bit of help we've had off them, we just wish we could somehow repay that kindness, (not monetarily mind, we're totally skint).” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYard Act’s James Smith says of the release: “Lots of bands are saying all this stuff so what makes Benefits so special? Why do I need to be told what I already know over and over again by a shouty man from Teesside? Well, because no one else is saying it with such physicality they sound like their voice box is about to leap from their throat and eat your eyeballs. With that little bit of influence we've garnered and the small fortune of money we now have kicking about, I'm so glad we can play a part in spreading the word on Benefits, because I think they're well on their way to a classic debut album, and I’m going to fucking love being able to brag about how important I was in making it all happen” \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Zen FC","offers":[{"title":"Black | 7\".","offer_id":50466034516299,"sku":"1152103","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | 7\"","offer_id":50466034647371,"sku":"1152104","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4b7c4d54-b69c-4109-893f-6b93b386447a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727301847"},{"product_id":"nails","title":"Nails","description":"\u003cp\u003eCritically acclaimed Teesside agitators Benefits return with the announcement of their much-anticipated debut album \u003ci\u003eNails\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn their four years of existence, much has changed for Benefits. Over lockdown they morphed from spirited guitar-led punks into overwhelmingly brutal harsh 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 acting as a righteous rebuke to the divisive, xenophobic, poisonous rhetoric coming from elsewhere, spread by those who stand to profit from the fallout, that had all but overwhelmed our public discourse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery time one of the band’s bracing polemics arrived it would spread rapidly across social media like an antidote to that disease and gather more to Benefits’ cause. High profile fans like Steve Albini, Sleaford Mods and Modeselektor were among those on board from the off. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, however, they are stepping things up a level, signing to esteemed indie imprint Invada who will release their debut album \u003ci\u003eNails\u003c\/i\u003e. “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,” Hall says. The label’s co-founder Geoff Barrow of Portishead was one of the many who’d been drawn to the music as it made waves online, and when he came to see the group perform live in his native Bristol was immediately hooked. His faith in the band has been repaid and then some, producing a record that not only confirms the group’s brilliance, but also redefines what you thought was possible. It captures all of that validating rage that established them one of the most exciting 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, both sonically and emotionally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTake lead single ‘Warhorse’ for instance. A playful riposte to those whose limited musical horizons have seen them question the band’s ‘punk’ credentials, the band gathered a series of crushing drum fills, and transformed them into a relentless, inherently danceable electro banger. “I love punk, I love cartoon punk, I think it’s brilliant,” Hall says. “Sometimes we get all that ‘you’re not shit, you’re not punk.’ Bullshit! Yes we are.” He also, however, knows that sometimes the best way to deliver his kind of message is to get people moving. “An iron fist in a velvet glove,” he says, hence the intensified focus on pure rhythm.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Invada","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50468690329931,"sku":"2016434","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50468691018059,"sku":"2016436","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/INV294_Benefits__Nails_Sleeve_632729f5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727350153"},{"product_id":"constant-noise","title":"Constant Noise","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eConstant Noise\u003c\/i\u003e follows the band’s debut album \u003ci\u003eNails. \u003c\/i\u003eAfter a succession of different line-ups, Benefits have now settled as a two-piece made up of Hall and electronic virtuoso Robbie Major. “We’re still angry” says Hall, “just angry in a different way to before. If the previous record was black and white, we wanted this to be technicolour. ”The first taste of this new musical direction came in the form of “Land Of The Tyrants”, which saw the band delving into bass-heavy, dance inflected rhythms and subtle industrial undercurrents. Follow-up single ‘Relentless’ featured The Libertines’ Peter Doherty and saw the band move further into ambient electronic atmospherics. Doherty is just one of the collaborators on the new record, Zera Tønin, the singer of queer pop-electro duo Arch Femmesis, Neil Cooper of Therapy?, and Middlesborough rapper Shakkall make cameos. In addition to the guest musicians, the album also features production from James Welsh (Phantasy Sound), and James Adrian Brown (ex-Pulled Apart By Horses) who helped to guide the new direction. The result is an album that gleans as much from the likes of Underworld and Leftfield as it does the likes of The Streets or Beastie Boys in their pomp, or even the 90s \/early 00s Indie Sleaze-era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Invada","offers":[{"title":"LP - Pink","offer_id":51116072894795,"sku":"2239984","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51116071059787,"sku":"2239983","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Orange","offer_id":51382568026443,"sku":"R2048-3064","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2ef32a52-584e-9eb1-1a54-3d39f669afeb_41ef8d1f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1737122579"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_77626da3_thumbnail_4096_7b0c6dcd-5cef-475e-8dce-9cda37d6bd07.jpg?v=1727301815","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/benefits.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}