Melbourne, Australia
With their humurous lyrics and blase pop melodies, Klinger bopped their way into my young impressionable heart, and planted in me an enduring love for Lemon Pez, an irrational hate for Ben Lee, and a flimsy ambition to take over the world.
7 years ago problems like acne seemed like the most terrifying thing in the world, and so I embraced Klinger's sympathetic anthems, as they provided the soundtrack to the innocent turmoil of my relatively stable & neurotic youth.
So you can understand my chagrin when the band broke up in 2002, propelling me into "adulthood", with the inherent obligation to worry about "important" things like arduous love affairs & world disorder.

It would seem frontman Ben Birchall felt the need to blazon his own name up in lights, unwilling to hide his genius behind one little word anymore. And justifiably so. He's a revisionist, and a revolutionary. So with 2 other compliant klinger members, and his signature Aussie drawl, Ben rebranded his music under the rousing new moniker, Ben Birchall and the Corrections, with songs that pleasantly extend beyond the beloved Klinger model.

However, as the only spectacled member, Dave Rogers felt out of place, and retreated from the not-so-klingy Klinger to his bedroom, where he could play by himself, to himself, and with himself. The song Paper Cuts also reveals that he would occasionaly sneak in a girl to play with him too. But he soon emerged with a spring in his step, a slick new name, and a new found freedom which he celebrates through some humble country-tinged folk songs.

So while its sad to see one of my favourite bands call it a day, i'm excited to hear what a change of scenery can bring, and to know the various members are still working towards a final draft which I'll continue to plagiarise in the composition of my own life story.

Klinger - Hello, Cruel World.mp3
Klinger - Ben Lee.mp3

Ben Birchall & The Corrections - Three Minute Revolution.mp3
Ben Birchall & The Corrections - Optimistic.mp3
myspace

d.rogers - Paper Cuts.mp3
myspace

Labels: Ben Birchall And The Corrections, d.rogers, Klinger, Melbourne, Tom