Jul 30 2008
Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound
Blind Pilot
3 Rounds and a Sound
Expunged; 2008
Amazingly, there was a time when people weren’t tired of the singer-songwriter format, when the concept of a traveling troubadour with his guitar wasn’t a punch line for some “folk singers are wussies” screed. Of course, it’s easy to detect where the contemporary backlash began: whether you blame Bright Eyes (this reviewer doesn’t), Dashboard Confessional, Jack Johnson, or (**shudder**) Ryan Cabrera, the available fodder is quite extensive. Moreover, it’s easy to mock the effect that whiny wannabes have upon the heartstrings and pocketbooks of overly sensitive teenaged women (and the occasional guy who hopes to market his cheesy three-chord poetry into a string of girlfriends). The sad casualty in all of this is the actual folk/pop-formatted singer/group/band who possesses actual talent, who has real stories to tell – this person has to fight through a host of preconceived notions and misconceptions for his/her music to be taken at face value.
For you see, one of the truer marks of a great folk song is not how easily the crowd can sing along at a show (though that can be an important component), but it’s how quickly the crowd can be mesmerized into a stunned silence over the beauty of the words and the music backing those words. So, when you believe in yourselves and your art as deeply as Blind Pilot does, you’re more than willing to push and press in all possible directions to have your music heard. In fact, this Portland, OR-based duo made an early name for themselves by packing up their instruments and limited other necessities to bike around the Pacific Northwest from gig to gig, from show to show. Cutesy travel stories aside, what makes the music on their debut record, 3 Rounds and a Sound, work is how charming, accessible, and substantive the songs are. On the surface, the songs project an unabashed innocence, but there’s a strain of deep-seated world-weariness running throughout the project, giving it a depth and pathos that others only attempt to convey. Featuring a sound reminiscent of early Bright Eyes, Iron And Wine, and The Shins (gone acoustic) and solid tracks like “Oviedo,” “Poor Boy,” “Go On, Say It,” and the title cut, Blind Pilot has proffered an album that is refreshing in both its simplicity and its high quality of artistry.
