Liam Benzvi (Brooklyn, NY)

Amnesia, USA could be a generational condition, a student theatre production, or a misread street sign on a road to nowhere - or it could be Liam Benzvi’s first formal solo release on Terrible Records. Equal parts modern metropolitan ennui and eyes-wide planetary wonder expressed in the shape of playful and gently anthemic wavey pop, it’s the soundtrack to those days home alone when you just can’t, or those halcyon days when anything and anyone can.

Echoes of new wave, J-Pop, post-punk and art pop ping throughout the EP without imposing, allowing space for Benzvi’s soft-power pop to bloom. Powered by efficiently groovy machine rhythms, fluid bass and a modest collection of guitars and keys, Benzvi’s voice carries his cast, a potent direct line whether he’s pitched down or rising up, inhabiting minds and heading straight for the heart.

Prior to flying solo, Benzvi fronted Strange Names, a new wave act formed in Minneapolis that released two albums on Frenchkiss Records. A New Yorker born and raised, he’s been performing in one form or another most of his life.