Blind Pilot – 3 Rounds and A Sound Review (2008)
I usually get a lot of emails and while I wade through them slowly (there’s about 250 unchecked emails) there are a vast amount of artists and genres that I get to check out. It’s such a hard way to find and like a band as it’s purely based on first impressions.
For Portland’s Blind Pilot there seemed to be an X-factor that kept me coming back to their Myspace page and listening to their songs. I’m glad I spent the time to give them an extra listen.
Their album, 3 Rounds And A Sound was released in July 2008 but to me having never heard of them before now is a good time if any to review it. Blind Pilot first started as a two person band with Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski, they have since extended the band for massive touring. The band’s sound I would say is it folk pop as it’s simple musically with a few extra instruments here and there. My experiences with folk are usually quite easy at face value… I can tell if I like it right off the bat. With 3 Rounds And A Sound, it’s a strong album that shows off Nebeker as a strong writer and singer that I liked instantly.
Through and through from top to bottom this album has great songs. Whether as stand alone singles the songs could get decent mileage but they also work together. It’s just 40 minutes of great music and what else could you ask for?
No it’s not the most creative, or innovative but good music doesn’t need to be that. Blind Pilot keeps it simple with light strumming and subtle additions and it ultimately works well that way. It almost seems effortless in a sense as the band makes it seem so easy after 11 tracks to constantly just to keep getting a right formula. It also sounds very raw and natural such that you can get a sense of the emotion involved. Nebeker has a great voice but he isn’t perfect (or at least he doesn’t try to be) and that gives a comforting feel that it’s not the singing quality I should be worried with but rather the lyrical content.
Favorites include One Red Thread and Go On and Say It but it could be easily be the other 9 songs.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
One Red Thread by Blind Pilot
Go On, Say It by Blind Pilot
