Artist Profile: Pilate/Pilot Speed
Prepare yourselves, Americans, because Toronto’s Pilate is ready to invade our country. Their first full-length, Caught by the Window, was released in 2003 in Canada, taking two and half years to make it stateside. Their follow-up, Sell Control for Life’s Speed, has already dropped in Canada. It’s American release has been delayed, however, because of the band’s name. They fear the litigious nature of the United States and have officially changed their name to Pilot Speed to avoid any court battles in America. The general consensus is that this new name is much less cool, but we hear at Good Weather for Airstrikes try to remain open-minded about such things, and the fact remains that the band itself is pretty good. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and Pilate (er, Pilot Speed) is a pretty sweet band.
Sell Control for Life’s Speed covers a lot of ground in its eleven tracks. The instrumentation is very strong and quite varied, but it is lead singer Todd Clark’s voice that carries every song. The voice itself is evocative of Chris Martin, though slightly less overwrought. The best songs on the album see Pilate having a good time with their instruments during the verses and letting Clark’s voice take over for the often soaring choruses.
The first song, “Knife-Grey Sea”, rides a beautiful minute-long intro that completely drops out before the verse kicks in. One of the more emotional tracks on the album, the climax of an episode of Whistler, Canada’s version of The O.C. was written to follow perfectly the tempo of the song. The song was playing continually on set and in the editing room, and “Knife-Grey Sea” lends its crashing concluding crescendo to the scene perfectly.
The lead single for Sell Control for Life’s Speed, “Barely Listening”, is a bouncy, Death Cab-esque song with a haunting chorus. Though most would say that NHL ‘07 is not the best video game to be featured in when your goal is to leave the Canadian market and break big in America, “Barely Listening”’s inclusion on the game’s soundtrack can’t hurt its exposure stateside.
Pilate is in the process of shooting a video for the albums next single, “Ambulance”. The song is nothing special, and is definitely comparable to some of Snow Patrol’s new album, but Clark’s voice again sets it apart during the chorus. His voice isn’t necessarily the best I’ve heard, but it has a very compelling quality that serves to separate Pilate from their fellow indie pop-rockers such as Keane and Snow Patrol.
MP3s:
“Knife-Grey Sea” - Pilate
“Barely Listening“ - Pilate
“Ambulance“ - Pilate