Review Summary: Strange We Should Meet Here, Old Friend
It has been a long twelve years since Idiot Pilot’s last full-length, Wolves. To go back to that album now feels like a time-capsule of the mid-2000’s cultural and musical climate. When Blue Blood was announced, I was intrigued to see what an Idiot Pilot album released so far from that era would sound like.
Opener Bombs Away immediately feels like a classic Idiot Pilot song on all fronts. Glittering synths and pretty guitar licks kick off the track, but well-positioned genre and tempo gear shifts elevate the song. The momentum continues with career highlight The Pushover.
Buzzing, bittersweet synths and an aggressive drum machine work together in stunning harmony to create an emotional, confessional atmosphere. The rich textures ooze obsession and animosity. Thematically, it concerns the pain of making someone happy, no matter the cost to yourself. Lead vocalist Michael Harris bellows “Ask for things that you don't need, your wish is my command and disease”. The song soars with an amazing, cathartic climax at the end. From start to finish, the most impressive and engrossing song on Blue Blood.
The album does add new elements that haven’t been utilized in the pair’s first two albums to great success. The acoustic/folk style of Only So Much triumphs and the electronic-dance Asylum, despite its title, is a dancey, delirious banger. Widespread Destruction’s swirling, bubbling synthpop textures and rhythms sounds like a more grown-up Passion Pit song.
Songs like Mammoth and Silver Needle have palpable energy and are enjoyable listens, but are some of the weaker tracks on the album due to the lack of innovation or catchy moments. The only truly disappointing track is Sideways due to its generic riff that acts as the foundation of the song and slogs on with sparse change.
Blue Blood works so well because the band has polished their style without losing any of the uniqueness that made it so successful in the first place. You can hear the heavier riffs and beefier production sophomore album Wolves introduced combined with debut Strange We Should Meet Here’s playful electronics and experimentation. In fact, a few songs on the new record feel like upgraded versions of older ones.
Murderous impressively reproduces the furious energy of Spark Plug from their debut, but with a tighter, more mature execution. Both songs erupt with energy through galloping synths and guitars but sneak in melody and calm. Saboteur parallels Retina In The Sky as the most upbeat, accessible song that still packs a punch. Eerie closer The Big Sleep follows in the footprints of Lucid, the final track off of Strange We Should Meet Here. Slow, brooding, minimal electronics inhale and exhale as the album quietly says goodnight.
Blue Blood evokes the feeling of running into an old friend you haven’t seen in years and instantly hitting it off again. It meets the standard they established in their first two albums - passionate, eclectic rock that is always up to something. Idiot Pilot maintains a good balance between cooking up songs that have familiar touches but with more intention and focus on the songwriting. Blue Blood is a most welcome reunion, one impressively not leaning on nostalgia or past glories, but acknowledging those and evolving.
