School is In. “It’s not traditionally ‘rock and roll’ to have a college education, but I was really good at filling in ovals, and they kept paying for it,” says, Ben Tonak of his master’s degree in creative writing, “School was easy. Even though tuition was paid for, I took out a student loan to buy music equipment.”

Tonak’s band kosmøs bears the marks of his wry humor and liberal arts education. Lyrics like “I’m finding faith without religion / I’m giving up on all the questions / I’m learning all the ways of letting go” from the title track of the band’s independently-produced album Ways of Letting Go exemplify the craftsmanship of a lyricist with a book-length poetry manuscript and years spent in writing workshops.

Tonak’s brother Tim plays bass in the band. The two were raised in a musical home, their mother a public school music teacher. Musically, the band proclaims itself to have “garage band sensibility mixed with arena rock accessibility.” Evoking comparisons to arena rock bands like U2 and Foo Fighters while maintaining an understated raw aesthetic reminiscent of REM, kosmøs’ music has that vaguely familiar ring without being derivative.