Pitchfork

We here at Pitchfork deserve a little credit. And by "we," I refer, of course, to Rob "Ben" Mitchum, who namechecked several Ben's from the indie rock community in his review of Ben Kweller's 2002 release, Sha Sha. The first two Bens mentioned in the review are Ben Folds and Ben Lee. Coincidentally enough, it's those very two Bens who have joined forces with Kweller to create indie-rock-supergroup-of-the-week The Bens. We're assuming they chose this name because The KLF was already taken. Either that, or they read us for career advice. Royalties, gents? Yes?

So give the 'Fork a little love for pulling some Miss Cleo-type shit and foreseeing this collaboration over six months ago. Next bold prediction: Ben Harper and Ben Lee team up, record concept album about To Kill a Mockingbird. In the meantime, the trio has recorded a four-song EP, and are finishing a tour of Australia this week. Remaining dates, Aussies:

03-24 Melbourne, Australia - Palais Theatre
03-26 Adelaide, Australia - Thebarton Theatre
03-28 Perth, Australia - Burswood Theatre

After each member finishes up his respective solo tour, The Bens plan on heading to the studio to record a full-length album; a U.S. tour should follow soon thereafter. If and when touring takes place, expect to find Kweller drumming and Lee bassing. As Lee told Entertainment Weekly, "You see [a collaboration like this] a lot more in the hip-hop world. But once we started throwing ideas around, it felt like the right thing." Because even shaggy-haired indie boys ain't immune to the hot bling, yo. Also according to Lee, the project indulges the trio's love of Gary Numan-ish new wave and traditional indie rock. So... they're a Hot Hot Heat cover band?

.: Ben Lee http://www.ben-lee.com