Dave Benton of Trace Mountains Coming to Thee Parkside on December 7
Photo Credit: Sam Soard
Dave Benton has never shied away from summoning up his indie rock forebears.
As one of the primary songwriters for revered cult rock group LVL UP, Benton famously penned the couplet, “’I feel insane when you get in my bed’/Is something sweet that the Silver Jews said,” for the opening line of “I Feel Extra Natural,” one of the band’s most beloved songs. Along with acknowledging the obvious (that line is sweet), it was also a playful way of paying homage to the legends that helped shape the shaggy and accessible energy of the band.
A decade later and now recording under the moniker Trace Mountains, Benton still seeks the guidance and direction of his DIY predecessors. On “Won’t Go Home,” the defiant, mordant closing track on his outstanding 2024 album, “Into the Burning Blue,” Benton wails about his formative memories, blaring out “Like a curious kid/burning ants on the pavement/making out in the basement/when you first heard the Replacements/’Bastards of Young’ and ‘Androgynous’ helped you make it.”
The stanza acts almost as a righteous motivational call to action—an inspirational marker aimed directly at his own heart and brain.
“I had this real angsty teenager thing going on at the time I was writing that song,” said Benton. “I was back living at home and just feeling very moody at the time, not being nice to my parents. It was just like being a kid again, and so those memories of the Replacements just came flooding back to me. I was kind of talking to my old self there.”
The reason for Benton’s adolescent angst (and for his unexpected move back to his parents' New Jersey home) was the recent end of his eight-year relationship with his girlfriend. “Into the Burning Blue” candidly chronicles the dissolution of that relationship, pairing that painful breakup with the larger existential challenges adults in their 30s face as they struggle to navigate inhospitable economic, social and political environments.
On December 7, he’ll perform selections from his stirring new album at Thee Parkside, with support from Vermont-based songwriter Lily Seabird. It will be Trace Mountains first headlining show in San Francisco.
Always a candid, erudite songwriter with LVL UP, Benton has peeled back even more layers on “Into the Burning Blue,” a confessional album brimming with emotional vulnerability, earnest introspection and alarming honesty. Benton crafted the album as he was going through the breakup in real time, so many songs he had already written took on new meaning—whether intentionally or through subconscious osmosis.
“At first, I would try to block out everything when I was writing songs,” said Benton. “I was rationalizing to myself that certain songs weren’t really about the relationship—it was almost like I didn’t want to know what they were really about. Ultimately—and I know this is kind of an overused statement—the process felt pretty cathartic. It felt really good to share the demos with my friends. The songs expressed things I maybe wasn’t quite capable of saying in a conversation.”
On the new album, Benton matches those deeply personal sentiments with a distinct sonic aesthetic. Drawing inspiration from mid-era Bruce Springsteen, in particular his towering breakup album “Tunnel of Love,” Benton leaned into the shimmering synth sounds that defined that 80s. Many of the songs on “Into the Burning Blue” are backed by a thumping drum machine and are rich with atmospherics, evoking a profound, spectral quality. You can almost see Benton walking solitarily down the street at dusk with a light mist enveloping him, playing these songs forlornly in his head.
“Gone and Done,” a mournful elegy marked by a wailing slide guitar spitting through keyboards, is filled with the typical questions one faces in the wake of a breakup—“Where should I go/Yeah, I don’t even know.” On the sparse, austere “Cry Cry Cry,” Benton’s voice cracks and splinters, as he tries to assure himself that he’ll be fine over the tinkling of an acoustic guitar. Album highlight “Ponies” takes a different tack, as Benton processes his emotions through the gleaming shine of bright synths and shimmering electronica.
While there is no doubt that “Into the Burning Blue” chronicles a relationship in its dissolution, the album also tackles larger, more universal issues. Like any empathetic, caring citizen of the world, Benton struggles to come to terms with a society that can be so cruel and callous. A lifelong musician—LVL UP formed when he was in college—he’s also been forced to deal with the economic uncertainties that unfortunately come hand-in-hand with artists whose craft has been commodified and marginalized by capitalistic forces.
Those larger inquiries of identity and acceptance are tackled on the album’s titanic opening track, “In a Dream,” a motorikking, propulsive road-trip anthem. A catalog of observations collected during his various excursions across the country, the song is a sociological treatise—an endearing, heartfelt examination of how a country so fractured and hurt can possibly survive.
In many ways, Benton’s own life is a riposte to those daunting visions. After enduring the heartbreak of breakup, Benton is now happily in a new relationship. When not out touring (he’ll be opening for jagged folk-rock superstar MJ Lenderman during a UK jaunt this spring), Benton splits his time between his partner’s place in Dallas and his home in New Jersey. He’s hoping for more solidity in the future, but his ability to move onward and upward bodes well for anyone dealing with the doldrums of personal and political depression.
“I’m still trying to figure out a lot of things—like I need to get an apartment and all that life stuff,” said Benton. “It’s a struggle out there for sure, being a musician. But even with all that going on, I still get to work with so many awesome people, who care about helping me make my music. And I still have so much fucking fun at my shows. There is nothing quite like that experience.”
A new year coming, a new relationship and a new album in tow. The future may still be in the offing for Benton, but he’s providing ample evidence that the burning blues don’t last forever.
Show Details:
Trace Mountains with Lily Seabird and Poppy Patica
Where: Thee Parkside
When: 8 p.m., Saturday, December 7
Tickets: $15, available here.