Have y’all seen Scott Pilgrim vs the World yet? It’s basically the story of a boy (Scott Pilgrim) who falls in love with a girl and then has to fight her exes mano-to-mano in a hyper video game world. The fights seem to follow Scott everywhere, including several rounds of Toronto’s Battle of the Bands. I don’t want to give any aspect of the plot away, but I will say that the movie makes Battle of the Bands look hella cool and exciting.

In real life, however, most Battle of the Bands are boring and strenuous–and the band that wins doesn’t seem to do anything besides get wasted on Lone Star and scream “Fuck yeah!” Sadly, that night will be the highlight of the band’s career; later in the evening, one of the members of the band will knock up an underage groupie, causing the band to split up.

A band bucking that one-night wonder trend in the Battle of the Bands space is the Ben Baxter Band, College Battle of the Bands 2010 Austin Regional Battle Winner. With influences from roots rock, reggae and hip-hop, they kinda take me back to the days of early 311. And the hippie in me loves the peaceful messages in their music.

• LEARN MORE: Check out Ben Baxter Band’s homepage for more info about the band.
• BUY: Purchase Ben Baxter on iTunes

Ben and crew recently released a video for the track “Open Your Mind.”  Filmed on a lake, it’s chill grooves are perfect for the end of summer. It also seems to capture the kick-back nature of Austin in the summer. Check it:

Ben Baxter Band – “Open Your Mind”

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