Many a hipster heart was broken in 2000 when the kings of the fledgling Indie rock scene, Ben Folds Five, broke up for reasons still speculated. For some, the thought of facing the new millenium without the North Carolina based group’s lyrical piano-slamming tunes was too much to bear. The group’s songs could turn from adolescent-minded and bitter (”Song for the Dumped”) to optimistic and whimsical (”Philosophy”) in an instant.
The rest of the now orphaned Folds fans sat quietly waiting to see what would come next. While frontman Ben Folds pursued his solo career, releasing albums similar in style but not in sentiment to the work he did as part of the ensemble, the other two musicians who constituted the Five crept around, quietly building new projects of their own without attracting too much attention.
Robert Sledge, whose strong belief that guitars have no place in rock music helped the instrumentation of Ben Folds Five, spent a nanosecond touring with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers member Tom Maxwell and his band, the Minor Drag. But when Minor Drag members defected back to the Zippers, Sledge was once again bandless. Sledge’s next project, International Orange couldn’t manage to build enough momentum and combusted in 2004 after a few small tours.
Singing drummer, Darren Jessee is poised to make a long awaited second blip on the Indie radar screen. Hotel Lights, which he fronts, is releasing a self-titled full-length follow-up to their recent EP, goodnightgoodmorning. Their songs, so peaceful that they would be ambient without the vocals, speak in volumes. Jessee is no longer just a side dish on Ben Folds’ plate. In Hotel Lights, his ideas get a chance to take the wheel.
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March 7th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Great post…very informative and well written! I love Ben Folds, and look forward to checking this out!
Peace,
Chris