Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound (Audio CD - 2009)

Is Blind Pilot a folk outfit playing indie rock or indie rockers playing folk music? Singer/guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski operate out of an acoustic setting but their mellow yet hooky tunes have more in common with indie rock outfits than folky troubadours. This Portland, OR-based group winds up being something like Beck or the Shins doing easygoing folksy tunes or Iron & Wine with a poppier sensibility. Whatever genre equation you want to use to describe them, it's easy to say that Blind Pilot have come up with a winning music plan. The opening tune "Oviedo" sets the course that they chart throughout the debut full-length. Against some laid-back guitar strumming and gentle drumming, Nebeker warmly sings his hazy but quirky lyrics, which seem like private language of personal confessions ("Four times is once too much for luck and that's how many times the clock struck/I wandered home saying your name"). As the song easies along, the arrangement gets fleshed out with muted horns and banjo picking. Nebeker nicely doubles his voice at times, but his singing maintains his intimate, hushed tones. In "Paint or Pollen," he builds a set of beguiling images ("Milk in your water, black in your primer, wood in your brush") to express that "the best is upon us." While having an interesting way with words, Nebeker isn't one for direct sentiment. He is a bit more overt in his affection on the title track, where he sings "My eyes were dark 'till you woke me." While "The Bitter End" deals with death, it doesn't dip heavily in morbidity as Nebeker expresses his emotions through personal but semi-obscure references to "hounds-tooth coats and vitamins." For all of its off-the-cuff musical vibe, Blind Pilot also exhibits a fine sense of craftsmanship NEW. Sealed. TRACK LISTINGS 1 Oviedo 3:52 2 The Story I Heard 4:33 3 Paint or Pollen 3:37 4 Poor Boy 4:06 5 One Red Thread 4:31 6 Go on, Say It 3:21 7 Two Towns from Me 2:57 8 I Buried a Bone 2:39 9 Things I Cannot Recall 3:18 10 The Bitter End 3:22 11 3 Rounds and a Sound 4:26