|
|
|
BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About
LOTD
|
Paper
Airplane Pilots: The History of Flying
If I really wanted to, I could get my point across about this album in just a couple of sentences: It arrived at LOTD for review just four days before I made my year-end Best of 2003 list, yet it somehow managed to land itself in spot #3. The CD hasnt been back in its case since the day it showed up. Rarely do I see press kits that accurately describe what the album sounds like, but with Chicagos Paper Airplane Pilots, the press kit is right on the money: What is it so many power pop fans are constantly searching for? Why, its the band with the right combination of harmonies, the right batch of chords, a keener sense of melody than the rest, and the quirky sensibility to give it a unique voice. To a tee, that is what The History of Flying, achieves. Drawing from influences like the Beatles, Big Star, Cheap Trick, Teenage Fanclub, and Guided By Voices, this band shows unusually mature songwriting skills on this debut album and displays its knack for creating the perfect pop song. Power-pop can often be a formulaic genre, but the Pilots are not afraid to steer their songs in several different directions. Exist You and She Reduces Me are the up-tempo songs one might expect from power-pop masters. But Rasberry Pie, and Anna (Im Coming Home) are slower, sing-along songs with acoustic guitar; the power in these pop songs comes from the earnest, harmonizing vocals, rather than the typical, driving electric guitars and it works. Finally, there are the softer songs, such as Chicago Skyline, that have lyrics so full of imagery, you can just picture the scene that singer Jeremiah Wallis is painting. All said, the Paper Airplane Pilots make the kind of power-pop that has become increasingly difficult to find over the past decade the kind not seen too much since Matthew Sweets landmark album Girlfriend. If theres one common power-pop pitfall, its the difficulty in being original, and the Paper Airplane Pilots succeed for the most part in avoiding that problem (with the exception of Olivia, which is a fantastic song, but its rhythm and chord progression remind me a little too much of The Smithereens Yesterday Girl). My only real complaint is that the 16-track album is slightly front-loaded, with its strongest songs all within the first seven tracks. But these are things that bands get better at with each release. With their golden influences and Wallis keen songcraft, I cant really see this band going wrong.
About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
