Pilot To Gunner: Get Saved

The basic sound of New York's Pilot To Gunner is a hash of arty indie rock and arena-ready hard rock, held together by elements of punky abandon and grunge dynamics. That sound is so common these days that it's hard to figure out at first how the band stands out. The press materials call Pilot To Gunner "D.C.-inspired," which is one of the new euphemisms for "emo," though with PTG's interest in rhythmic guitar interplay and call-and-response choruses, Fugazi references are more than fair. But Pilot To Gunner isn't as charged-up as Fugazi, or Rage Against The Machine, or At The Drive-In, all of which the band resembles in structure, though not mood. Singer Scott Padden tends to swallow his shout, and his guitar duels with Patrick Hegarty are too complex to be forceful. Still, that intricacy distinguishes Pilot To Gunner's Get Saved, which at times sounds like a library of edgy rock-guitar sounds, from the power chords trailing out of the chorus to "Metropolitans" to the slide-stings and chime of "No-Blooded." Get Saved's heavily symbolic, cut-vein lyrics are more stream-of-consciousness than is typical of the genre, especially on the knowing, raging "Dry Ice & Strobe Lights," which uses the ladder of celebrity success as a metaphor for the arc of a doomed love affair. And though it hasn't yet made the jump from solid to superior, Pilot To Gunner follows the Jimmy Eat World playbook in whipping up at least one fantastic song per record. Get Saved peaks on its title track, a chunky anthem that hits a high when Padden and Hegarty sing "Everyone gets saved if you join us," making rock glory a heartening communal pursuit.