Bentham is the musical alter ego of Ben Paulos. Bentham mostly records in the studio, but may once again emerge to play gigs. Paulos started in music in the 5th grade, playing trumpet, picking up guitar in high school. He dabbled in jazz, Balkan and West African music, but mostly stuck to rock guitar. His first major band was Laughing Academy, in Boston, circa 1988-1993. That was an art rock trio plus singer that recorded three albums (but released one and a half), played New England and New York clubs, and garnered national airplay before folding. Laughing Academy members went on to play in Sugar, the Willard Grant Conspiracy, and Transmissionary Six. Bentham was launched in Boston, then continued in Madison, Wisconsin in the late 1990s. Since his move to San Francisco, Bentham has been hibernating, though the songwriting has continued. Now in 2011, two elpees of songs written from 1995 to 2005 are finally coming out, easing some of the backlog. "Miss Wisconsin" and "Pacific" are songs from Madison and San Francisco, recorded mostly in Chicago and mixed in Oakland. The band is anchored by Chicago journeymen rhythm section Gerald Dowd on drums (Robbie Fulks, Justin Roberts) and Matt Thompson on bass. Paulos supplies vocals and guitar, and a variety of other things. Pacific features strings, horns, keyboards, and many recorded sounds, all ably mixed and fixed by Wallysound in Oakland. The range of times and places, people and experiences are reflected in the wide variety of songs. The two albums feature the pure pop of "Parachute" and "Kiss Me Hello," jazzy murder ballads like "The Cold Cold Sea," the sonic squall of "My Letter" and "Eyes," the epic strings of "On the Beach," the lo-fi chimp rock of "The Party's Over," and even the mock(ing) C&W of "Bad Country Song." To keep track of Bentham, sign up on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/benthamtheband.