JBender (Club Helsinki, 4/14/01)
By Seth Rogovoy

GREAT BARRINGTON- It's not easy for a band that no one has ever heard of to play two sets of all original songs that no one has ever heard of and win the crowd's hearts and minds. But New York City-based JBender did just that on Saturday night at Club Helsinki with its infectious, harmony-laden brand of pop-rock.

JBender's hook-laden tunes harken back at least as far as the 1970s Cheap Trick, and perhaps even further back to giddy '60s pop. In its two sets on Saturday night, the group seemed to channel several different eras and styles, including '80s arena-rock and pop soul, '90s pop-punk, and late- '70s new wave. Indeed, a semi-acoustic cover of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," which kicked off the quintet's second set, was tellingly revealing.

Lead vocalist Dan Woods was a charming frontman, and he and his bandmates threw themselves into what must have been a difficult task with fervent enthusiasm. The group is on the verge of a big break; in a few weeks its first single will be released to radio, and in June its debut album comes out on Columbia Records. With its catchy pop songcraft and earnest harmonies, JBender could well wind up being this summer's big pop sensation, this year's answer to last year's Vertical Horizon.

The fact that the quintet wasn't thrown by what was essentially an out-of-town bar gig speaks well of them as performers and people. And Woods and bandmates did their utmost to win over the crowd, even working the patrons individually during intermission. It's the sort of old-fashioned, grassroots approach to building a fan base one rarely sees these days, but it makes perfect sense for the kind of fresh pop-rock JBender puts across on stage.

The group kicked things off with "Four Minutes," an anthemic rock ballad which, like many of the group's tunes, was expertly colored by Mikel Paris 's gleefully cheesy keyboards and honest harmonies. "Mix Tapes," like many of the group's tunes, was unabashedly romantic, with a disingenuously grandiose arrangement.

"Kick Me," currently the pick to be the group's first single (judging from the live set and a six-cut promotional CD, the group has no dearth of potential hit singles), was a catchy, upbeat gem of melodic rock featuring ringing, Edge-like guitar by Aaron Accetta bouncing off of Paris's synthesizer chords, and another tune, titled "Surreal" or "So Real" (Woods seemed to be singing both) also recalled U2.

"Be," another potential single, featured a giddy, wordless chorus that recalled the Mamas and the Papas, and "Tequila Sheila" was a choice bit of tropical punk featuring Caribbean-flavored percussion by drummer Adam Accetta.

It was a thrill to catch a band on its way up at a local nightclub. No doubt it was also significant that a band on the brink of stardom was sent to do an out-of-town gig at the little nightclub that could.

[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on April 17, 2001. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2001. All rights reserved.]