NEW VIDEO! BENNY J. WARD – OF RINEHEARTS, LEECHES!, SCREWTOP DETONATORS AND THE LONE RANGA FAME – PREMIERES VIDEO FOR LATEST SINGLE “UP AND DOWN”

 

 

 

PERTH’S BENNY J. WARD – OF RINEHEARTS, LEECHES!, SCREWTOP DETONATORS AND THE LONE RANGA FAME

– PREMIERES VIDEO FOR SOLO SINGLE “UP AND DOWN”

 NEW SINGLE FOLLOWS RECENT PSYCH GARAGE POP GEM “TELL ME TELL ME” AND RELEASES BY LEECHES! AND RINEHEARTS

 

 
 

In true Benny J Ward fashion, no time has been wasted delivering the second of his solo singles ‘Up and Down’, out on Cheersquad Records and Tapes. This song is completely infectious and just like his first single, ‘Tell Me Tell Me’, it oozes fuzzed out 60s harmonies and garage guitars in what is fast becoming his own signature sound.

The video for “Up and Down” features what is seemingly becoming Benny’s signature vision – the involvement of one of his kids in his videos. Whereas 10 year old son Sonny J Ward created the animation for the video clip to “Tell Me Tell Me”, the “Up and Down” video stars Sonny’s younger brother (and bona fide shredder) Kit Wally Ward.

‘Up and Down’ was recorded, mixed and mastered by Benny J Ward, in his own studio, Pink House Studio.

Benny says: “‘Up and Down’ is a lot of fun! I guess in some ways the subject matter is an ode to how life can be a yo-yo at times, and that’s OK! If you’re feeling up and down, chuck this on, grab your best mate and have a boogie!”

 

 

With a career that spans 20 years, half a dozen bands, a dozen albums, EPs, and singles; it would be safe to assume that Benny J Ward has scratched all his musical itches. Safe… but wrong. Taking a sojourn into solo territory, Benny J hunkered down in the studio he built with his bare hands and produced the second ever released under his own name – the psychedelic garage pop belter “Up and Down”.

As with almost all of Benny J’s work – including his recent first single “Tell Me Tell Me” – “Up and Down” has the core of a super-catchy pop song, but with layers of delicious weirdness on top. Melodic hooks come thick and fast, drenched in peculiar harmonies, tantalising guitar fuzz, and laid-back grooves. The end result is an irresistible swirling racket that finds its place in Benny J’s discography somewhere between the power pop mastery of Rinehearts, and the balls-out rock’n’roll of Screwtop Detonators.

This is not the first time Benny J has gone solo. Back in the early 2000s he caught the attention of Triple J with his Ginger-Pride-themed country-music alter-ego The Lone Ranga (subject matter that would later resurface in 5-piece alternative outfit The Red Panthers). “Tell Me Tell Me”, however, is the first time Benny J has played every instrument on a track – from his native guitar to the bass and drums – as well as recording and mixing the tune himself.

Released on legendary label Cheersquad Records, “Up and Down” is the third of many Benny J Ward releases to come in 2023. It follows first solo single “Tell Me Tell Me” and a 7″ EP by his punk outfit LEECHES!, and will be followed by more solo material plus albums by indie kings Rinehearts (produced by Dom Mariani), and ’80s hardcore outfit Covøids. A man of many talents (and voices) Benny J will continue his eye-watering level of prolificacy well into the foreseeable future, all while producing other incredible Perth bands such as Zerodent, Brackets and Desert Dogs as a side-hustle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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