Ben & Amy

I heard this album when it was first released a couple of years ago and I instantly loved its sheer invention! Quirky comedic musical ideas combined with multi-layered extra-musical subjects. What I particularly loved was the fact that a great deal of the sounds are "played" in rather than MIDI'd up - the lyrics are sublimely ridiculous and the conceptual nature of the songs surprisingly evocative and ironic, but always musical - from the grumpy and obsessive "it's my birthday, it's my birthday" on "Birthday"(funnily enough) through to the wonderfully deceptive vocal entry of Moose Hotel. I can't help having my personal favourites on this totally mad album - Bending Metal, Tea, Beard, but above all Farmer Song...seriously head banging grungy guitar with West Country accents- watch out for the madder than mad outro which represents immpeccable comic timing!

Dominic Sewell, Composer - iTunes

The second band on to entertain us was Ben & Amy. Consisting of two sibling sets, there are four different ways on stage to warp a mind. The sound that they create is simply genre-defying and leaves the most confused expressions on faces of those currently uninitiated to the band. Some songs are melodic, some are instrumental, some make sense and others are just plain ol' fashioned crazy. They are always unique and with a certain sense of humour that becomes infectious. The band is not just about making weird noises and scaring people-anyone can do that. There is some genuine talent behind all the music and it's a pertinent reminder that you have to have accomplished an instrument before you can warp the sound because there is constructive noise and then there is a disaster and the band always veer towards the genius rather than the mentally insane, although it is a fine line often blurred. Considering that the material is original, the large amount of people requesting songs and joining in is proof enough that this band has had a profound impact on the local scene. It might just be that they have become the personification of cheese dreams, and everyone needs them occasionally.

Catherine Jackson, Promoter, Lounge Bar, Alton

- MySpace review

Ben & Amy obviously have a firm fan base judging by the comments on the street and that amount that turned up to see them as soon as they heard that they were playing. And who could blame them - where else do you get a screaming, horn pumping female and low voiced brother making such unusual yet thoroughly entertaining music. Couldn't take my eyes off them!

Sian Powell, Yellow Tambourine Promotions. - MySpace review

Mad though it was, it had a really good groove to it. I'd like to hear more of that, I thought it was really good.

Al Scott, Producer.

All over the place in a good way - that was something else!

Simon Price, Music Journalist & DJ - BBC Southern Counties Radio

One of the most widely talked about and asked for bands that played in November

Lee Barratt, event organiser - Facebook review

Pigeon-holing: the bane of every band since the start of time. But secretly everyone wants to sound just like someone else, which is what makes it so refreshing to find a truly unique artist. In my book picking three genres out of hat and stringing them together (and don't even get me started on 'post-x' bands) doesn't make an artist unique, what makes an artist unique is songs about a hotel for moose, psycho farmers and how they like their tea.


I am talking of course about Guildford based nutters Ben and Amy, whose MySpace page describes them modestly as.... 'other'. It's the sort of music you'd expect to hear if the Mighty Boosh crew got together with Tom Waits and Chas and Dave but forgot their instruments and instead composed using only music stolen from SNES games.

I'm really struggling to find a motive behind such insanity and the only conclusion I can draw is, well.... insanity. That's the beauty of this duo, there isn't a hint of pretension anywhere: the very fact that the word 'Nintendo' doesn't appear anywhere on their profile is a massive relief. There are no essays about how weird they are or how they're so different from everyone else: the music does the talking, albeit in a language no one but they can really understand.

I normally like to pick a standout track, but that's a bit like being asked your favorite variety of Twinnings: horses for courses I say. 'Farmer Song' is probably the most accessible, but not by a country mile; instrumental 'Henry' is a bit like playing Final Fantasy while high on acid and 'Tea' feels quite simply perverse. 'Moose Hotel' reminds me of a fantastic novelty band called Rotting Dead Face that use to turn up from time to time as secret tracks on Ben Dlugocecki albums (he's getting a bit too pro for that sort of silliness now which is a shame).

Another great thing to see is a good list of gigs lined up. What fun would it be to confine such a virtuosic cacophony of nonsense to MySpace after all? Having said that, one wonders how one should act upon witnessing Ben and Amy live. Personally, I would have said at a distance of about 35 feet with a pint in hand pretending to be here to watch the next band on but pleasantly surprised at how good the 'other' band is. I figure since they're so good at it, leave the indignity to the pros....

www.myspace.com/beanandamoo


Article by Mark Johnson - Surrey Unsigned Magazine