 |
REVIEWS:
All summer this was one of
my favorite records. "Better Late Than Never"
is in my head all day whenever I hear it… An exciting
band, catch them if you can! All The Dead Pilots are a
Baltimore area band that sometimes holds close to the
post-Fugazi "sound" of the DC Dischord area,
while often being more straight ahead & not afraid
to pop it up a bit. But fuck all that shit, This Is Better.
Fucking rhythmic, surging taunting & tensing, good
screaming that you can actually decipher… Sparky.
Very sparky. For those who have never heard them: I recommend
All The Dead Pilots if you like Burning Airlines or Jets
To Brazil even a little bit, m'kay? Because they're better
than that second horrid Jets album, & better than
most of the first record by Blake's band too… and
I haven't listened to the third album enough yet to say
anything concerning that one… And, the important
thing is, I LOVE Jets To Brazil, the band is good shit,
but All the Dead Pilots makes paltry cracker crumbs of
them with this album. At the same time, they're not even
really comparable. I wish I had more pizzazz with the
English language so I could describe them mo' betta. (5
Stars)
- reviewed by GY, Torpedo Magazine
Long fighting the tide against
lesser bands on bigger labels with higher profiles, Baltimore's
All the Dead Pilots have released the best album of their
career that is simultaneously more commercial than anything
they've yet done, and yet still true to the band's quirky
formula. With the exception of the eponymous meandering
third track, the staccato guitars make all the songs here
more rhythmic, more cohesive, and more memorable than
anything the band has released prior. As a veteran of
Wilmington, NC's W.E. Fest, I look forward to seeing this
band once a year - their powerful guitars and the sight
of the singer raving like an evangelical preacher in a
back brace are odd as well as intriguing. I have mentioned
this band's similarities to Tool (and now a Perfect Circle)
here before, and anyone who is into these bands will definitely
wanna check out A.T.D.P.
- reviewed by Johnny Puke, Jersey Beat
Dark, driving and angular moodiness
punks out between evil metal vocals here. Steady fluctuates
between sparse dynamics that whisper secrets to full on
raise your fist rock. The band manages to pull in some
nice sounds: The intro to "All the Dead Pilots"
is beautiful, like whispered static against mellow guitar
and tick tock reverb drums. Then all of a sudden we beak
into a strange mathy XTC-meets-Gang of Four vibe, with
vocals that still seem to want to break out into a Pearl
Jam or a Tool song. But it's like the singer keeps catching
himself just in time --- then the guitars go all "rawk"
for a second, and he loses it in a sea of upraised lighters.
With more mood-math and less straight rock, you've got
yourself a great band.
- reviewed by Marcel Feldmar, Big Takeover Magazine
Without pussy-footing around
the subject, All the Dead Pilots quite simply make good
rock music. Easily Lost in the Present , the debut album
from these Baltimore natives, boasts a respectable nine
tracks on a CD tipping the scales only a shade over 30
minutes. And no, this isn't punk.
Fused together is a compilation
of well crafted, densely packed songs that, if any longer,
would not work together. In short, All the Dead Pilots'
songs play like poets write; quick, concise and not wasting
a damn bit of space.
Acting like a band putting
out their third album instead of their first, they pack
in songs that sound great without repeating themselves.
Yeah, you can trace a common root through the entire album,
but the songs play differently enough that you forget
that this is their first album together. Granted, all
four band members are veterans of other bands, but still…
Their songs inhale deeply with
the occasional breather to let your ears cool down. They
are the melodies of spring nights in beer gardens and
small club venues where you wish more bands played: not
so hard that your ears bleed but with enough verve to
remind you that rock music is alive and kickin'.
The best thing about Easily
Lost in the Present remains its absolute brilliant chemistry.
Dave Ort's vocals knife through the soundscapes produced
by his band mates like silk. Accompanying him is Paul
Ort's frantic guitar, Greg Anderson's deft bass and the
drums of Chris Smith that never ever seem to quit. When
they come together, you get one hell of a ride you can
bob your head, tap your foot and pump your fist to.
- reviewed by Jonathan Dirksen,
www.erasingclouds.com
I have been following All the
Dead Pilots since a random CD of theirs showed up in my
in tray and subsequently circulated with my mainstays
for quite a while. Hailing from Baltimore, the band draws
it’s namesake from William Faulkner’s Collected
Stories. The band evokes a sense of urgency within its
framework of raw textures and intelligently crafted music.
The best representation of who All the Dead Pilots are
is on track two, “Empire State,” a romp through
indie-rock and retro-rock with stomping drums and driving
guitar-lines.
The comparisons on Steady Not
Static are many but the output is refreshingly original.
Think Sunny Day Real Estate meets Jawbox, and a prepubescent
Soundgarden. The production value is high here. The instruments
seem to pierce through much better than many major label
releases these days. The vocals are still fairly unpolished
at times, which reinforces the band’s indie-rock
leanings.
All in all, All the Dead Pilots
have put out a strong release that extends their sound
from before. This is a definite pick-up for someone wanting
to get into indie-rock but still clutching a rock footing.
- Indie Uprising.com
All The Dead Pilots, whose
name is taken from William Faulkner's Collected Stories,
play modern rock. If that sounds a bit simple, I apologize.
The sounds on this disc range from gentle melodies surrounded
by spoken word style vocals to crashingly discordant Fugazi-esque
numbers, to jangly guitar driven indie rock in the vein
of Burning Airlines. Their press sheet details these same
comparisons, but they are readily apparent to fans of
either band.
Dave Ort has a very appealing
singing voice. It's not boy band pretty, nor is it full
out metal assault screaming. It's range covers delicate,
melancholy, angst-ridden and angry. Jay Novak, Paul Ort
and Greg Anderson surround the vocals with very competent
indie rock. Musically you've heard the sound before, but
it's crafted well enough to allow you to ignore the familiarity
in favor of the good listen.
"Flamethrower" is
an interesting track that at times reminds me of Sense
Field and at others Tool. It's a track with a wide range
of vocal skill, sometimes raw metal ballad style, sometimes
emo prettiness. "Steady Not Static", the title
track, has the appeal of Fugazi with more aurally pleasing
vocals. "Crossection" has the jangle guitar
appeal of Burning Airlines with passionately hard emo
vocals.
The closing track, "You're Last" breaks in with
the sound of shattering glass followed by a rollicking
guitar onslaught. This is a great modern rock sound with
almost nu-metal vocal aggression and a great rhythm. Don't
yank that disc from the player too quickly...there's a
bonus track that kicks in after about 20 seconds of silence.
- South Of Mainstream.com
|
