Music, like any form of art, has many different categories that people tend to just toss artists in. While I admit that I tend to be one of those people, I found a little bit of a problem doing that with Pilot to Gunner's latest release, Get Saved. I feel ashamed that I almost passed this up due to the cover art; however, I stuck with it and thank God.
If this quartet from Brooklyn were to be categorized into the many genre's that we find today, it would most likely be post-punk, but why waste time with categories? Alright, I'll get to the point.
As soon as I hit the play button, I was absolutely amazed. The first track, "Get Saved," comes out with huge, hanging guitar hooks that pull you in from the start and immediately get your head bobbing while the music leaps from synapse to synapse inside your brain, and once this happens, you know that you're in for a treat. All together, the album tends to follow in the direction of catchy guitar hooks and refreshingly beautiful, cohesive melody with few filler songs. Scott Padden's vocals seem at first a little bit off-key and yelping, but within a few seconds you may find yourself astonished by how raw and energetic they sound, making the emotion and energy that they put into this piece of work very noticeable.
Padden displays his talent by creating clever lyrics throughout this whole album. In the opening song he spews out "Infection, infect us / Our sleeves rolled up inject us / Forensics, invent them / No? Collect them / Protection, protect us / We don't want to know direct us / The lesson, what lesson? / We excel at inattention."
The vocalist obviously isn't the only talent however, as the drumming by Kurt Herrman is brilliant alongside the work of bass player Martin McLoughlin and lead guitarist Patrick Hegarty. They all play equally important roles in forming the distinct sound of this band and towards the middle of the album the track "Sorry Names" proves that slowing their tempo down doesn't take away their raw energy or ability to create catchy songs
Pilot to Gunner was able to harness their energy and the result is an album packed with hook-filled, fist-in-the-air-pumping songs that will rock your socks off (or damn near off). This is rock displayed in one of the best and most clever ways that I have heard in a while, songs with a hell of a lot of energy, emotion, and creativeness will blast out of your speakers and into your head where they will stay for quite some time after even just the first listen.
Standout tracks:
- Get Saved
- The Product
- Hey Carrier
- Sorry Names
- Barrio Superstarrio
- No-Blooded
- Hot Circuitry
- Dry Ice and Strobe Lights