Music is not difficult to understand, at least not as a basic concept. Many preach the fact that they listen to whatever music they choose because it speaks to them, that it has a voice synonymous to their own. It should be a fairly simple equation to create something that achieves that, something that has a definitive purpose or message that plugs into an audience that understands and embraces it. Why is it then that so many artists lack this very basic fundamental? Is a singular purpose too much to ask for? These questions arise again and again on Gabe & Benny’s ten song album Overcome. The two men composing the group, hailing from El Dorado Kansas, have crafted an album that does everything it can to say “Hey, I have soul! I’m here and I have a reason!” However, despite the kicking and screaming, there is simply nothing there.
Overcome’s blatant identity issues begin with song one, “We Shall Overcome”. It is a track that anyone has heard before as the opener to an album that attempts to take itself seriously. It is composed of a powerful quote, in this case from Lyndon B. Johnson, with a musical background that steadily gains momentum until that big punch – the almighty crescendo. In most cases, this is wildly successful, and it almost manages to work here. Except there’s a catch. You see, when you place something like this into an album, one big word comes back up: purpose. What does a quote about overcoming racial adversity in America during the 1960s have anything to do with the next nine tracks? Nothing, absolutely nothing. What are Gabe & Benny attempting to overcome with this album? We’ll come back to this.
For the remainder of Overcome, Gabe & Benny continue with their trend of flipping back and forth between ideas and messages – both of which are poorly developed. From attempting to represent their hometown, to singing about heartbreak, or simply yearning to achieve greater status in the music scene, they strive to give their audience a multitude of thought provoking subjects to stimulate their craniums while still being that hyper-catchy electronic group to bump at a house party. It is all fine and well, in fact it’s typical for similar performers, but the crippling flaw in each song is that anyone could have written them. Taking the basic musical progressions of any captivating pop tune and tossing in bland lyrics about whatever overused subject you desire creates every song on this record.
“Party” personifies this haphazard style perfectly. Gabe, who is the “singer” in the group, rattles off the typical banter of describing your run of the mill party scene, while Benny (the “rapper” of the duo) abuses the classic line of partying until the sun comes up. Everything about this set up insists that Gabe & Benny do not care for exhausting even the smallest bit of effort toward creating something unique or even memorable, instead dismissing any creative merit by pandering to a market that was cornered by every auto-tuned artist since early 2000. There is nothing fresh to be heard here, giving the record no logical purpose as a whole.
All of this intellectual failure will, of course, be rationalized as the music being created simply for “mindless fun”. That’s fine, in fact mindless music is exactly what I come to expect from pop groups. Senseless fun is not necessarily detrimental to music as a whole; it is merely created for entertainment purposes. However, when that music is being pawned off as something with a meaning or as something more than bottom of the barrel pop tunes that abuse every cliché in the book, then there is something amiss. Overcome is not fun, interesting, or in the least bit new. It is an album that will never be taken seriously as long as it continues with fairytale storylines and worn out samples from 2004 comedies. The only obstacle that Gabe & Benny must overcome in the foreseeable future is their inability to create something that gives their audience a bit of respect.
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