Review: Signal For Pilot

Last Sunday evening, Sinclair’s Pub in West Babylon hosted an Alchemy International showcase featuring local bands, with headliner Signal For Pilot.

The pub was a dimly lit space split into two sections, a bar and what is presumably typically a lounge and billiards area. With pool tables pushed to the bar, there was plenty of space for local music fans to get close to the stage area.

Headliners Signal For Pilot are a complex bunch. They’re an interesting blend of talent and whimsy that comes together in their self-described “alteronica” style – a unique blend of alternative rock and electronica. Overall influences vary from The Beatles to The Foo Fighters, and the members bring plenty of personality into their music as well.

With personal experience including theatre, graphic design and film making, the members take a DIY approach to the band. Their merchandise and promotional materials have largely been designed in-house. The thing that makes it so notable that the band members handle so much themselves is that they do it all well. All too often, when work is done on a shoestring, or the same few people are responsible for everything, some aspect suffers. With Signal For Pilot, that is not the case at all.

One of the standout features of Signal For Pilot is their multi-sensory approach to music. They use ambient sounds to create an almost atmospheric mood to compliment their music. If they meant a song to be creepy, you not only hear it, but feel it – the perfect example being the suitably skin crawling stalker anthem “Mister Parole,” performed to spooky perfection Sunday evening.

Signal For Pilot takes their music seriously, but not too seriously. The set opened with an electronic video game sound clip, and halfway through the set of original songs, singer Patrick announced a cover. Donning colorful shutter shades, the band broke out into LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” – an unexpected, but fun twist.

The band recently went through some changes, and played this show with a new guitarist and bassist, both of whom had only been practicing with the band for about two weeks. Add to that the fact that Patrick (who plays guitar as well as providing vocals) was not playing due to a guitar malfunction, and you’d think these two newbies might have a hard time keeping up. To the contrary, the band sounded as excellent as could be expected in that locale.

Everything blended effortlessly, and the crowd was having a blast. The combination of Patrick’s vocals, with a prevalent bass line and accompanying guitar, pounding drums and complex keyboard melodies was truly impressive. The live show blew away the recorded versions, which are quite impressive in their own right.

The band’s debut EP ‘Aurora’ is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Music Store, Zune Marketplace and Streaming on Rdio. Signal For Pilot is playing tonight at Webster Hall in NYC, and September 23 at the Bellmore Street Festival. Visit www.signalforpilot.com for more information and some sample music, or visit on Facebook.

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