Manchester Punk Festival Releases 37th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 37th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 37 is…
Piloting A Vehicle of Audible Expression - Self Released
Over the last three years, I’ve see Audio/Rocketry live more times then I can count. Great guys, great band and a great live show, I’ve stomped my feet and clapped my hands along with them almost every possible chance I get. Their brand of distinctly Canadian folk-punk hit home, with songs detailing locales that I know and visit and on their third album, Piloting A Vehicle of Audible Expression, they go one step further.
They once again sing songs that are distinctly Canadiana but have also moved forward to sing songs of community and music (like The Wild in a way). They start off from the start with Mission Statementwhich a rousing chorus of “The chorus is our banner, under it with manifest. We live in audio and die in the wake of silence.” Boots of Our Youth follows and details the aforementioned stomping and clapping at local shows all over. It all cumulates with the energetic sing-along closer This Audio that champions the bonds of friendships found in the local scene.
Delivering a fuller sound than ever before, Piloting sees Audio/Rocketry expanding from the acoustic guitar/bass duo of Joe Vickers and Matt Murphy and adding in more varied instrumentation to their folk-punk stylings. Feast or Famine’s Kevin Klemp adds some banjo into the background while Paddy Sterling picks up the tempo with a series of percussions. Blair Drover rounds the sound out with a mixture of mandolin, electric guitar and bare bones drumming.
This added instrumentation fills out the sound on Piloting to great effect – the added snare on Boundless Rocketeers may not leave the biggest impression but enables to the song to stand out just a bit more as it grows in momentum. There are downsides to it too though, like on Inner Aesthetic which focuses too much on the added instrumentation and sounds out of place in the flow of the album.
The album’s strongest points occur during the more energetic moments – be it their ode to Edmonton on “Hey Dynasty, Don’t Forget…” or This Audio. When they slow it down, Audio/Rocketry have hits and misses. Never Lose Your Shine uses a laid back tempo and barebones structure that hinders the momentum of the album, throwing a bit of a wrench into the flow of it all but they’re able to pull you back in with the slow but moving Only Gets Better. This is Piloting’s Two Chords and is powerful without being rowdy.
As it is, for people looking for good, down to earth folk punk, Audio/Rocketry is for you.