Houston Calling

Review: Co-Pilot, The Course Of Empire + upcoming shows

October 29th, 2010 · 5 Comments

Co-Pilot, The Course of Empire EP

Co-Pilot
The Course of Empire
Self-released

For a band that’s never released much music, the buzz surrounding the Houston/Austin-based instrumental rock group–guitarists Derek Lemons and Mike Byers, bassist Brandon Lemons, and drummer Brandon Zavala–has always been positive, mainly due to its impressive live sets. With its new EP–five tracks of sedate, lush soundscapes punctuated by moments of balls-out, fuzzy rock–Co-Pilot lets the songs, each of which flows into the next, very gradually build to the point where you’ve almost accepted that there won’t be a breakdown into the amped-up thrash that, while stereotypical of the genre, never fails to work. By the time “Broken Shield” hits, the song’s abrupt changes in styles–hints of shoegaze, moody post-rock, and blistering metal–leads one to question why this band isn’t as well-known as Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky. Then, as quickly as it hit, the song stops and bleeds into closer “Only Myths Will Remain,” which again brings the listener back to the tranquil beauty that makes up the majority of Co-Pilot’s latest batch of songs.

Co-Pilot continues the celebration of the release of The Course Of Empire (anyone remember that Dallas band from the 80s?) with a free in-store performance at Cactus Music tomorrow (Saturday, 10.30.10) at 3pm.

The band also plays Fitzgerald’s next Friday night (11.5.10) with The Appleseed Cast and Analog Rebellion. Tickets are available here. Co-Pilot, in-store at Cactus Music, 10.30.10

Visit Co-Pilot online.

Tags: Music · Reviews · Show listings

5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Jeremy // Oct 29, 2010 at 11:50 am

    Very nice, sir. I think you said in one paragraph what I *tried* to fumble through in about five. :^)

  • 2 David A. Cobb // Oct 30, 2010 at 9:44 am

    No way — yours is a touchstone.

    I totally wanted to go off on some tangent about how the Co-Pilot EP is not only one of the best Houston releases of 2010 but how the music is a perfect soundtrack to some dark and lonely road trip down a winding, desert road. That seems overblown and overdone, so I refrained, but your review nails it for sure. Good stuff.

    Looking forward to hearing these songs live! I am a sucker for the instrumental rock…

  • 3 Houston Calling‘s favorite albums of 2010 // Dec 21, 2010 at 9:10 am

    […] of Empire (Self-released) Here’s what I wrote about this EP in my review (which you can read here): With its new EP–five tracks of sedate, lush soundscapes punctuated by moments of balls-out, […]

  • 4 Free Press Summer Fest preview: Co-Pilot // Jun 1, 2011 at 10:03 am

    […] a snippet of what I wrote about The Course Of Empire: With its new EP–five tracks of sedate, lush soundscapes punctuated by […]

  • 5 Co-Pilot launches new website, offers free EP // Aug 3, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    […] there, you can get a free download of Co-Pilot’s The Course of Empire EP. Read my review here. Co-Pilot plays at The Mink this Saturday night […]

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