Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Sept 18 2002
You know that moment, just after you go over the top of the first hill on a roller coaster and you descend at 100 miles an hour? This is the feeling you get with the beginning of “Firecracker" – the first track off Lost Pilot’s EP The Debate. It’s such a relief from time to time when bands get right to the fucking point on their albums: hard, fast and fun. From there on, the album takes you on the ride that slows you down, picks you up and turns you around. If I had to ask the kiddies what to call this, I am sure they would say emo. If they mean in the same league as Jimmy Eat World, the Foo Fighters and Thursday (minus the hardcore bullshit) then I would have to agree. However, Lost Pilot stand on their own with a strength and confidence in their music that must be admired. A stellar first outing for the boys! --Mike Taggert
- Mike Taggert
When is rock pop? When is it pop rock? There is a thin line somewhere, the meeting of pop and rock. Lost Pilot is somewhere on that line, straddling the difference. The pounding drums, driving bass, and punky guitar work certainly does rock. Absent, however, is the mope and whine of the angst-laden artist. The pop part comes in with the infectious melodies and weird head-bobbing thing that happens around the time " Turning Point " kicks in.
The Debate has a good, clear sound for tracks contained therein. From the songwriting standpoint, Lost Pilot has a very good handle on things. Though the band does maintain a signature sound, each of the five tracks included on the record retains its own individuality. The punky, poppy music played by Lost Pilot ususally does not require much in the way of musical skill and chops, but the performance of the band on this recording is very clean and tight.
Lots of rhythmic stops and starts and changes keep these songs like a series of pitches from Pedro; a fastball here, a changeup, then a hanger over the corner of the plate that leaves the batter wondering what just happened. Much like Pedro's curveball, everything lands where it is supposed to, and the result is a very polished sounding performance that leaves little to be desired. Though the vocals are not amazingly bad or especially off in any one area, they seem to push a little hard and be slightly lacking in contrast with the great performance of the band. There is no power shortage; of all the songs - fast and slow - are each attacked with equal vigor. It's got the energy of the new progressive sound, yet is still accessible to your average two-eared listener. Save the dodgy occasional vocal moment, this radio-ready disc has the goods to satisfy the head and the ears.
- C.D. DiGuardia
Metronome, May 2002
Potent, high-energy rock and roll purs out of the speakers when Lost Pilot's The Debate takes to the airwaves. Guided by Chris Denune 's raucous vocals and guitar work, bandmates Craig Holland on drums, Justin Miller on Bass and guitarist Adam Kurtz maintain a solid airspace for the band to soar.
Five high octane cuts targeted at a college listening crowd has Lost Pilot right on track.
- Mark Wilmot
Discography
Putting it all Together, Firecracker, Turning Point - All three have received play on WBCN, WFNX, WAAF. Our first EP, "The Debate" has been added at over 300 college radio stations in the US and Canada. We have also recently recorded a three song EP that is soon to be released
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
It started off as a pet project, an album's worth of captivating hard pop/rock numbers accompanied by a blaring sonic intensity spawned from gigantic dreams and reflections on what life has in store. With a live show that mixes the energy of punk with slamming progressions and catchy hooks that the kid's can't resist, Lost Pilot has attracted a surprisingly strong string of successes in its early life.
With the release (February 2002) of The Debate, the band's first record as a unit, Lost Pilot proved their ability to bottle that live energy, while laying down a string of great all-out-rock/pop tunes. The band retreated to Western Massachusetts to record and mix the record with Slaughterhouse Studio engineer Mark Allen Miller (J Mascis & the Fog, Dinosaur Jr., The Marshes, Cordelia's Dad, New Radiant Storm Kings, Sebadoh). The group then took the record to engineer Colin Decker (Aimee Mann, Cave In, The Samples, The Rustic Overtones, Mary Lou Lord, The Sheila Divine, John Fahey) at MWorks.
On a role, Lost Pilot continued to work on new songs while playing out to support its first release, and within only eight months was ready to return to studio to capture bigger and better tunes. The band released the sarcastically titled 4 song EP, a seletion of the three finest, newer tunes, as an internet release through its website, in October 2002. The songs show a maturity in the bands song writing, while still maintaining the trademark intensity.
Lost Pilot's history is a short, almost-too-sweet story of finding exactly what was sought. Chris Denune (guitar, vocals) and Craig Holland (drums) began playing together in a pop-punk three piece, formed in early 1997. In the years following, Chris and Craig started a post-punk outfit, playing throughout the eastern U.S. After intense touring for their latest record, the band separated, leaving Chris and Craig on opposite sides of Massachusetts. Reflecting on his musical history, and with a new focus, Chris began to compile a catalog thought-invoking tunes on a two-track reel-to-reel in his Boston apartment. In May of 2000, the two began to breathe new life into the reels, recorded, and immediately sought to play the music live. Several months of scouring the city eventually led to Justin Miller (bass), who was studying at Berklee College of Music at the time. The three began comfortably arranging songs together almost immediately and felt the need for a second guitar; someone who could hold down the fort as well as overlay melodic hooks. Adam Kurtz (guitar), an old friend of Craig's, had recently returned to the Boston area after finishing school in New York, and immediately jelled into the group's sound. The first trial assembly of the band seemed almost fate-laden. Hook, line, and sinker.
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