Thursday, February 16, 2006

J-Stone’s Pick of the Week - Pilotdrift

By Andrew Johnstone

I almost feel like it’s cheating to pick Pilotdrift of all bands to be pick of the week. They certainly don’t need my help with promotion (they’re on tour with Supergrass as we speak, (well beyond my range of influence) and they really have no short supply of good reviews. Despite all this, I have to do Pilotdrift this week simply because last Sunday they arrived on my doorstep, smelly, abusive, and ready to destroy the District with a sound that is incomparable to any other and unbelievable on all levels.

Oh and by the way, if you want to grumble about them not being a DFW band then I suggest you note the label, Good Records, sound familiar? Right in the heart of Deep Ellum–yeah–Pilotdrift is Dallas enough for me.

What can really be said about Pilotdrift that begins to describe the complex cacophony of emotions that one experiences during a listen through of Iter Facere or Water Sphere. I think the best descriptor I ever came up with was orchestral rock, think Radiohead meets Danny Elfman (did the score for many a Tim Burton movie). Sweeping symphonic movements meshing perfectly with hard rock guitar riffs and the sweet holy fast and precise drum beats of one Ben Rice. Nothing about Pilotdrift is revolutionary, but everything about Pilotdrift is different from what everyone else is doing.

To hit the ground running, let us just mention “Jekyll & Hyde Suite” a nine minute long romp through the mind of Kelly Carr, and what a strange and scary place it really is. This song is huge, not just length wise, but in depth and content. It shifts emotion and feeling from down right creepy, to anger, to regret and sorrow, accurately representing Jekyll who shifts between himself and the monster Hyde abruptly and with devastating consequences. To listen to this song and not just sit back and try to take it all in, to not feel an emotional punch in the gut is to not be human people, only robots can ignore the intense sensations that this song brings to the table.

With that out of the way, how about “Elephant Island” huh? I swear, even a year later I still get excited like a little kid as the song builds up to ‘hey hey heyyyyyyyy hold tight to the captain’s words” It’s just such a raw and awesome moment, particularly live as my roommate and I raise up our glasses when the moment is right and scream at the top of our lungs “ALL SAFE BOSS! ALL WELL!” which obviously results in awkward stares and quiet laughter from the band. This song has drunken scream session written all over it–but you need to have smart friends because songs about lost Arctic expeditions don’t get the same reaction as songs about booty from the young and stupid.

I could talk for pages about this band, and I think most people feel the same way. While it’s true that Pilotdrift isn’t going to spark a revolution, I will say that they will go down in history as one incredible and unique force of rock n’ roll, if you can even call it that. If somehow you’ve been missing for the last year, go pick up Pilotdrift’s album, put on your fancy stereo headphones and keep your hand away from the skip button because trust me, you don’t want to miss a single moment.

Ed. Note: Pilotdrift performs this Saturday, February 18th at The Gypsy Tea Room

Listen to more of J-Stone's picks on The Lonestar State, www.WMUCradio.com, Wednesdays from 6-8 PM EST.

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