It's true. As a snobby Chicago
native, I didn't think there was another place in the Midwest
good for anything. Lately, I've been finding an almost supernatural musical
connection with Minneapolis,
with bands like Lifter Puller, the Hold Steady and the Plastic Constellations
popping up on my radar as of late. Today's post will deal with a very different
sort of Minneapolis
group from those mentioned above, one that embodies some of my most deep-seated
punk rock influences and wraps them up into a fiery ball of tight, vicious and
poppy awesomeness.
The band? Minneapolis'
very own Banner Pilot. The album? 2009's Collapser. Aside from sharing initials with a rather notorious
British oil company, these guys are essentially an amalgam of fellow Minneapolis natives Dillinger Four, Chicago's very own The Lawrence Arms and
quintessential emo-rockers Jawbreaker. The resulting sound is refined rawness,
a paradox so deep that I can't even explain my own thought-train on it.
It would seem the emergence of Banner Pilot perfectly
coincides with the quiet exit of scene vets Dillinger Four...wait, you mean
they still exist? Okay, well. We haven't heard from them since 2008's C I
V I L W A R, and 2002's Situationist Comedy prior to that. I don't
think they give a shit either way, but it's sad for me to say that D4 has
really lost a lot of relevance. Thank the stars for Banner Pilot.
On Collapser, BP lead vocalist Nick Johnson's raspy voice is almost eerily akin to punk icons Erik Funk of D4 and Brendan Kelly of TLA, and the music is just as catchy as either of the above. The entire album moves forward with a pounding, driving force that consumes everything in its path and spits it out with a punk rock intensity you just don't find as often these days.
Get on it, holmes.
"No my dear, nothing much grows around here / we carry our roots with us / a couple of weeds pulled up."
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