The Pieces -- (from left) Vess Ruhtenberg, Heidi Gluck and Devon Ashley -- made the best local CD of 2003. Their self-titled disc is an amalgam of classic pop sounds. -- Benchmark Records   Multimedia The Pieces - Soda Machine (:30) Devil To Pay - Toreador (:30) Majhas - Workman's Comp (:30) Loretta - Sinking Ships (:30) America Owns the Moon - Freakout (:30) Project: Bottlecap - Open Up Your Door (:30) The Fuglees - David Lee Roth (:30) Lunar Event - 10 Kill Club (:30) Otis Gibbs - Color Wheel (:30) Paging Raymond - Wake Up Caroline (:30) Multimedia can be played using RealPlayer   Related content • Lindquist: 2003 was a Benchmark year for local music • Here are a few additional accolades for area musicians and their recordings

Benchmark Records planned a big 2003 and then delivered the goods.

That's the best way to summarize the year in local music.

In addition to staging the third Midwest Music Summit and third Battle of the Bands, Benchmark thrived in its first year as an independent label with a roster of artists.

Although company executives Josh Baker, Jeff Zuckerman and Mike Kenney have yet to hang a platinum sales award in their Broad Ripple headquarters, they're putting bands on the road and establishing the groundwork for a national identity.

But is the music any good? Check these picks for Central Indiana's best recordings of 2003, where Benchmark resembles an emerging dynasty:

1. The Pieces, "The Pieces" (Benchmark Records).

Benchmark made an easy call when signing Vess Ruhtenberg's current band as the label's flagship artist. (In addition to the Pieces landing No. 1 here, Ruhtenberg's previous group -- United States Three -- topped The Star's local lists in 1999 and 1997).

The left-hander knows how to write and record albums that both cohere and surprise. By joining forces with bass player Heidi Gluck and drummer Devon Ashley in the Pieces, Ruhtenberg gained a pair of ace collaborators.

Gluck sings standout tunes "Lauren" and "Fireworks (With Report)." Ashley pulls it all together through varied approaches to rhythm.

The Pieces toured the United States and United Kingdom this year. On their album of classic pop sounds, the trio creates a world where soda machines and Jarvis Cocker posters provide more than the background.

2. Devil to Pay, "Thirty Pieces of Silver" (Lax Wax/Benchmark Records).

There's larger-than-life potential in Battle of the Bands winner Devil to Pay. The foursome is half-cartoon, half-bulldozer and all rock. In the old days, metal dudes tried to jump on the grunge bandwagon but often fell flat. Devil To Pay vocalist-guitarist Steve Janiak goes the other way. He's a grunge-era warrior who's transferred his smarts and hooks to metal.

3. Majhas, "Stepping Into Character" (Hawthorne Street Records).

If you dare, allow vocalist Jon Michael Gioe to grab one side of your collar and guitarist John Zeps to take the other. They'll drag you through a sonic alley of "Fistfights in Motion," "Quick Breath Before Dying" and "Kick It to Sleep." While "Stepping Into Character" isn't for everyone, it's also a gripping and focused triumph of metal/hardcore/punk.

4. Loretta, "The Translation" (Benchmark Records).

This album pleased longtime fans who finally have a studio document to rival the band's in-concert magic. The portable Loretta also can reach young listeners who will invest as much emotion in the band as the band invests in its music. Immersed in fire and water imagery, "The Translation" drains and replenishes in equal measure.

5. America Owns the Moon, "Tiger" EP (Benchmark Records).

If you were to give just one disc to someone who's lost faith in rock 'n' roll, "Tiger" would be an excellent choice. Watch your dispirited pal succumb to razor's-edge charms they once felt when listening to Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello and the Replacements. The best part: This EP is merely a six-song appetizer for forthcoming album "It's True!"

6. Project: Bottlecap, "Saving Rock n' Roll" (Skeptic Productions).

After opening with its exhilarating title track, this album rides a wave of sweet and crunchy indie rock. The members of Project: Bottlecap -- sharing a viewpoint with many of us -- cry foul over attention given to meagerly talented mainstream darlings ("If I see another Britney Spears, I'm going to burn down every house I ever built," sings Pat Simms). The solution? Daring and vital music such as this.

7. The Fuglees, "Indiana" (Polygroin Records).

Power pop reigns on "Indiana," the second Fuglees album to make this list in as many years. The ragged-loser vibe of the trio's debut, however, has given way to a more endearing air of confidence. With songs titled in honor of David Lee Roth and Yoko Ono, the Fuglees are ready for their close-up.

8. Lunar Event, "This Transparency" (Scarab Records).

Boy-girl duo Lunar Event makes techno accessible for non-techno fans in the same way Nine Inch Nails and The The did years ago. Gwynneth Burgins and Derek Osgood are especially skilled at folding the sights and sounds of rave culture (see song titles "Beat-Matched Heart," "Down Underground" and "No More Pleasure") into conventional song structures.

9. Otis Gibbs, "Once I Dreamed of Christmas" (Benchmark Records).

Granted, only the most exceptional holiday albums should be considered for year-end honors. "Once I Dreamed of Christmas" is no slapdash bag of covers, but 11 original tunes written by Americana hero Otis Gibbs. He gets a kick out of the world's cheapest couple ("Carl and Mavis"), drops his guard for small-pleasure nostalgia ("Color Wheel") and adds his rendition of "1913 Massacre" -- an anti-greed heartbreaker from Woody Guthrie's catalog.

10. Paging Raymond, "Bridges Left to Burn."

"Melodies to Burn" would be an equally fitting title for this muscled-up and plugged-in effort from the previously acoustic group Paging Raymond. At times suggestive of a summit meeting between the Rolling Stones and BoDeans, "Bridges" isn't always a happy hoedown. Darker corners are explored on "Wrote It Down" and "Wake Up Caroline" (which features the line "Parcel out the liquor till I can't stand").

Contact Star reporter David Lindquist at -317-444-6404 or via e-mail at .

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