Benches - Kill The Lights EP (2025)

San Diego will always have a piece of my heart, though the Bay Area owns my soul. The sun-scorched ocean city, known for year-round good weather, overtook the latter half of my teens and the first half of my 20s. As a result, the local music scene became mine, too, just as much as the one here. A few bands made it into my regular rotation, especially post-pandemic when I craved live music more than ever. To chase this oddly specific high, I spent many nights smushed into sweaty crowds following Ultra Q around 500-cap rooms like a lost puppy. It was there that I encountered indie-rock outfit benches for the first time.

I believe I caught three of those shows, immediately impressed by their niche indie-indie rock vibe that didn’t feel pretentious (thank goodness). They were also very kind behind the scenes, another treat. By the time I caught them in San Francisco opening for IDKHOW, they were visibly more confident. Their latest effort, Kill The Lights, deviates from any sounds that may have inspired them, culminating in something that is uniquely theirs. It is drenched in raw emotional honesty and intelligence, shrouded in a disguise of glittery indie synthesizers. Initially, benches took on a mold heavily resembling The Strokes. Those notes still linger, but they have transmuted them into something more authentic.

Kill The Lights is perfectly coated in theatrics. That’s not a bad thing; rather, it is complementary to their raw lyricism. The EP touches on mental health themes without beating around the bush or sugar coating anything. It grips in this way, forcing listeners to take on their emotional load instead of running away from it.

The group calls out real-world issues, citing “OCD,” though perhaps hyperbolically, still fundamental in transparent conversations about mental health. They toy with ideas of pushing people away who care for them under the guise of protection. They touch on modern society and the weight it leaves on people who are simply trying to live meaningful lives on their terms. Arguably, the core theme of Kill The Lights suggests that we are all given a role to play from the time we’re born—and sometimes, that crushes us more intensely than any spotlight could.

Sonically, the tracks weave nicely in between familiar territory for benches while still trying new things. For example, “Naive” certainly sounds like a benches song, with pulsating guitars and free-flowing (yet, timely) drums taking the lead. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Anson Kelley is at his best. When I first saw him, he was timid, teetering toward sheepish. However, the glimmer of his current form began to show last year when I saw them with IDKHOW. The potential of everyone in the group was always there, but experimenting creatively was exactly what they needed. It seems that the more emotionally vulnerable Kelley allows himself to get lyrically, the more confident his performances become.

Kelley says Orchid found “a sweet spot” during the writing and recording process, which makes sense—It’s the strongest song in the EP. Each member of benches has found their voice, not just the vocalist. The guitars are clearer, the drums have more direction, and the bass line keeps everything intact. Truthfully, the entire EP is a fantastic display of personal and creative growth that shows through in every second of it.

Hopefully, benches continue along this path while honoring new parts of themselves that emerge over time. Perhaps that is the secret sauce to unlocking untapped creative potential. Throughout Kill The Lights, benches sees themselves at not only their most confident, but most authentic.