Ben Davis

Ben Davis is an alumnus of noisy, jarring post-hardcore bands like Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker. Ben Davis has also released two albums’ worth of lush, dark pop songs - 2001’s The Hushed Patterns of Relief and 2003’s Aided & Abetted, both on Lovitt Records. It’s as though one of these Ben Davises is the other’s secret identity: The solo work stands on its own, devoid of any kind of “former members of” context, while his earlier work in more aggressive bands has its own appeal. Bats & Mice, Davis’s other active project, forms a kind of middle ground: The pop sensibilities at work in his solo material is readily apparent, but there’s an intensity and an instrumental interplay apparent that seeks to merge the rampant discordant energy of his earlier work with more traditional structures.