Pistolero

The men of Pistolero, an indie-rock quintet from Atlanta, are in the business of remembering and building anew.

"There is a real art in listening to good music and then taking in things from the music that really inspire and influence you," says vocalist Pallon Patrick, who has long been on a sonic diet of greats like Roy Orbison, The Traveling Wilburys and The Kinks. "Most anyone can pick up an instrument and just play something," he adds. "But I'm confident that Ray Davies could shit a great song."

It's all too trite for contemporary bands to claim 1960s Brit rock as an influence, but it's rare to hear that influence actually come alive on CD.
Pistolero has been a work-in-progress for over five years, but "The Last Fiore," the band's first full-length album, was not released until last July.

With tracks drawing audible inspiration from The Kinks ("A Warrior's Feet") to The Velvet Underground ("This Means War"), The Last Fiore garnered praise for its unique blending of British-invasion consciousness and modern pop-rock sensibility.

It's a neo-classical rock philosophy of sorts, and it has led Pistolero to position itself as a band that both honors and builds on the past. Guitarist Tom Arthur Pollard, who spends his days as a carpenter, wanted a richer, more unique tone for his guitar - but instead of buying a new one, he decided to make it (an amp) himself.

They belong to an Atlanta-based music collective called Industrial Strength Promotions, which is a conglomerate of about 15 bands with a similar goal: to play good music at better venues than each band could get on its own. ISP has its own space in a rock-rich area of East Atlanta, just a few doors down from The EARL.

Following the band's modus operandi of using the old to create something new, drummer Todd Morrison spent a couple weekends in the dusty old building to fix the plumbing (and build a recording studio).
[The ISP Space is] a functioning listening room, supported by contributions and donations jars in place of cover charges at the door.

Pistolero, who will be playing the ISP space on April 7, has big plans for 2007. Surrounding the upcoming release of an ambitious double-LP, "The Pink Note,"several weekend tours are scheduled for the Southeast and East Coast throughout the year.

"It feels a bit daunting a task for us," says Patrick, who has appropriately ruffled hair and speaks with an easy air. Pistolero has always worked hard on the business side of the band; the new album, like its predecessors, The Last Fiore and There Goes the Neighborhood EP, will be self-released by 3bullets.

Kat Amano
Southeast Performer Magazine
04/02/2007 - Performer Magazine

This three-song CD from Atlanta-based Pistolero is a short but sweet trek through off-center garage rock and psychedelic balladry. The first song on the EP, “The Kissing Bandit,” combines garage rock ethos with a new wave attack that gives this song a unique feel while still sounding instantly recognizable. Vocalist Pallon Patrick’s voice is flexible enough to give you gritty and quirky within the same line.

The other members of the band (Todd Morrison — drums, Mike Perkins — bass, Arthur Pollard — guitar, John Ochoa — keyboards) really shine on “Endless Summer,” which at just 2:04 leaves you yearning for another chorus. A playful keyboard melody floats in and out of a fuzzed-out vocal and lazy ensemble performance that creates a mood that would raise the spirits of even the most jaded listener. If they ever make a Nuggets boxset for this decade, this track should be the first cut included.

All too soon the celebration ends with the cello-driven “Garden Party,” which is an LSD-tinged ballad that would do Donovan or even T. Rex proud. The acoustic guitar work meshes perfectly with the piano and cello, creating an ideal sonic bed for Patrick’s vocals.

Do yourself a favor and seek out this band’s other recordings. This EP is a cruel tease.

Jon Dawson
Southeast Performer Magazine
03/01/2007 - Performer Magazine

“Pistolero accomplishes what others heartily attempt: that is successfully crossing several genres and doing it well,” Performer Magazine (2006).

“A playful keyboard melody floats in and out of a fuzzed-out vocal and lazy ensemble performance that creates a mood that would raise the spirits of even the most jaded listener,” Performer Magazine (2007).

"The Atlanta five some cranks out guitar based pop-rock that's as informed by the mid 80's as the mid 60's." – Stomp and Stammer (2007)

“This three-song CD from Atlanta-based Pistolero is a short but sweet trek through off-center garage rock and psychedelic balladry,” Performer Magazine (2007)

“"With tracks drawing audible inspiration from The Kinks ("A Warrior's Feet") to The Velvet Underground ("This Means War"), The Last Fiore garnered praise for its unique blending of British-invasion consciousness and modern pop-rock sensibility." - Kat Amano (2007

"It's all straight-ahead rock 'n' roll, but the precise sound varies from song to song; some psych out like the Kinks, while others smoke like popular indie group Kings of Leon. At its very best, Pistolero displays its distorted, rusted-out influences like a badge. The dirtier they get, the better." - Star News Wilmington (2007)

"The proof is in their self-released debut album, 2006’s The Last Fiore (3Bullets Records), which is jammed full with the ol’ spirit. The leading element of ’66-era garage rock is not to be denied at any moment, but as it moves, they’re also found brandishing pecks of late ‘70s powerpop and mid ‘80s indie rock without so much as a tap of jive-y force." - Encore Magazine (2007) - various

Nineteen sixty-six: One of the liveliest datelines in all of rock history. The eggs laid by the then-recent British Invasion had hatched like a series of crackling explosions across America, coating thousands of spasmodic teenage heads with viscous ambitions to start their own bands. Emulating the rough edges of the Yardbirds, the Animals and the Kinks, this newer strain, consisting of the Count Five, the Standells and Zakary Thaks, to name very few, dismissed the standards by spinning their volume knobs even louder, writing original songs, darkening the lyrical content, roaring from the throat, and grinning at those with fingers in their ears. Revisionists describe these blaring creations of ’66 as the first crest of punk music. Considering very few modern punk bands can match its spirit, it’s not an unfounded claim. But the spirit is far from gone. Today, descendants of the jumpy Sixties’ sound are in abundance, screeching, folking and booming with big beats in a tributary manner more refreshing to the ears than any present music force (to this writer, anyway).

Strumming with that consummate spark is Atlanta, Georgia’s, quartet Pistolero, who found their sound in natural progression. They play what feels right, rather than surrender to Sixties’ fuzz orthodoxies or boast any bogus experimentalism.

“The sound is just what’s evolved over time with us,” bassist Mike Perkins explained in an interview. “We’re all pretty heavily into the Sixties’ British Invasion sound, especially [guitarist/vocalist] Tom [Pollard] and [guitarist/vocalist] Pallon [Patrick]. Being that they combine to write the basics of most of our songs, it just ended up like that.”

They write with the courage to absorb other influences as well, without compromising or cheapening their origins. The proof is in their self-released debut album, 2006’s The Last Fiore (3Bullets Records), which is jammed full with the ol’ spirit. The leading element of ’66-era garage rock is not to be denied at any moment, but as it moves, they’re also found brandishing pecks of late ‘70s powerpop and mid ‘80s indie rock without so much as a tap of jive-y force. It’s all smoothly blended. Each of these purities adds up to one big sound, and the inherent passion is all the evidence needed to trust its truth. Naturally, they have plenty of believers in tow.

“People are coming to shows a lot more now,” frontman Patrick said with a smile after lamenting their early days, playing for empty rooms with no pay. Not to be sunk by poor crowd attendance, they soldiered on and found their draw.

“Now, three-fourths of the audience are people that we don’t know,” Perkins added. “They’ve heard us on the radio or a friend told them about us, and they come to the shows. We, just this morning, got a call to open for Wolfmother here in Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park. That’s a pretty big deal for us.”

With success on the rise, the four are anxious for that next level, thus a busy 2007 is planned. Heavy touring and local drum-up are in the queue to ring in a lofty double-disc album later in the year, called The Pink Note. Like Pistolero’s previous work, it will be released out of their own pockets, on their in-house label, 3Bullets.

And to maintain a warm, vintage-like production, they’ve opted to record the album entirely themselves at their own rehearsal space, which they’ve dubbed “Shabby Road.” The decision to record on their own terms came after paying for studio time at a state of the art facility, which generated an over-produced sound that misrepresented Pistolero’s intended vibe.

“It wasn’t that the engineer was bad at his job,” Perkins expressed. “Just the opposite—he was too good at it. Everything had to be recorded by the books, and that’s just not what we were looking for. We recorded and mixed all of [Pistolero’s 2006 EP] The Kissing Bandit at Shabby Road, and we feel that it’s much closer to the sound you get when you see us live.”

While the commendably tough do-it-yourself method has given the band many happy returns so far, they assert that they’re certainly not opposed to the help of a proper, established record company. In fact, they’re pursuing it. And to their absolute credit, Pistolero’s clear work ethic is one that attracts this kind of support. “I just want to tour,” Patrick boasted. “I want to tour the rest of my life. That’s my goal.”

Regardless of their songwriting ethos, it is ambitions like this that are going to make Pistolero a buzz-band that influence others in keeping Sixties’ fuzz-rock alive, just as the Who inspired countless numbers in their heyday (appropriately enough, the Who are a cited major influence on Pistolero’s sound).
Our neck of the woods is about to get the message too, as the band is programmed for a show at Bella Festa this Saturday, April 28th. For the jaded who need some refreshment, Pistolero puts on a show to prove the liveliness of ’66 is just as hot in the here and now. They’re the real thing for only $7; Doly Toro opens the show.

By: Ben Brown
- Encore Magazine

Opening with the catchy “God is Thicker than Love”, one might think that Pistolero was a band that came around the same time as The Monkees or The Who. Meshed with this sound made famous by the 60’s British Invasion, the carefully tuned ear can catch something a little more soft around the edges. At time, The Last Fiore sounds like what you’d imagine Pinkback front men Rob Crowe and Zach Smith would sound like if they made an album with The Beatles.
Most tracks have a gritty, messy tonality that seems more suited to vinyl than compact disc. Recent groups like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club also come to mind with this same type of grit. BRMC are one of several popular acts that have successfully brought back psych-rock back into modern music. The lyrics on The Last Fiore are difficult to understand and even incomprehensible at times, but for some reason, this does not detract from the album as a whole, or make it any less entertaining. A hint of bluegrass sneaks in on the eighth track, “Muppet All Stars”. It’s hard to tell whether this track is a tribute to the popular Jim Henson phenomenon or if Pistolero is actually trying to sound like Emmet Otter’s Jug Band (circa 1977). The song is fun and enjoyable, nonetheless, and the last few songs of the album follow the same suit, coming off as bouncy and upbeat and leaving the listener wanting more. Pistolero accomplishes what others heartily attempt: that is, crossing several genres and doing it well. The band polishes off The Last Fiore with songs as catchy and easily enjoyable as “Muppet All Stars”, which only makes you wish the duration of the album were a full 30 minutes long, if not twice that much.
By Lauren Alexis Begnaud
(2006) - Performer Magazine