Benvenue’s premiere album Jean Elizabeth begins with heavy guitars, which without patience could scare some off, expecting the rifts to be followed by indistinguishable screams. But the guitars soften a bit and reveal a voice with audible lyrics. The voice belongs to none other than Francis Blay, backed up by Moon on drums, Sid Slater on guitar, and Tommy Aldo Sonin on bass. With a sound combining metal and eclectic rock, the group deems themselves “melodic hard rock”—and what an apt description. With Jean Elizabeth as their first album to be released, it will be interesting to see where the Berkeley natives will go…and with such a combination of sounds, it is undoubted that they are going places.

The album starts off a little harsher than it ends, and upon multiple listens, Blay’s vocal stylings eerily resemble early Incubus’ Brandon Boyd more and more.

The intro is a funky menagerie of sounds which leads into the heavier electric strokes of Here’s to You and She Did. Be Your Own starts off quick paced, takes a detour with some slow and heavy guitar and bass (head banger’s joy), before speeding up again with a harmonized repetition of the chorus.

Each track compliments the last, but with enough variance that you don’t get bored. The substance of lyrics seems to be lacking if only in the sense that it is hidden behind pristine guitar solos. If it weren’t for Blay’s voice, the lyrics wouldn’t be worth much between the excellent mash of instruments. Try as you might to pay attention to the words, the complimenting sounds steal the show.

Dark Streets claims title of the one acoustic track on the album, which finishes up with a radio edited version of She Did and the lyric less outro. With a combination of hip hop inspiration, salsa, and a little bit of drum and base, the outro confirms the initial suspicion that Benvenue is not your typical rock band. Keep an ear out for these guys in the future.