Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds And A Sound (2008)

My friend Brian kept telling me to check out these local Portland boys and I kept on forgetting their name, literally, for months. Then finally he mentioned them and I went right home and downloaded them off eMusic. And they were awesome. And I realized I’d wasted at least three months not knowing who these guys were. Don’t make my same mistake. They sound like a cross between Elvis Perkins and the Shins. It’s mostly two guys singing over a strummed guitar and a light snare. That sentence would probably turn me off too, but the songs are catchy. Don’t mistake this for boring ass folk, this is acoustic pop, a subtle distinction maybe, but an important one. Yes, one has a beard. My favorite tracks are “One Red Thread”, the title song, and "Oviedo". If I’d had a better memory and listened to this album earlier they might have made my year-end list.