It’s clear Burning Pilot want to cultivate an air of mystery. Instead of using their names, they refer to themselves with numbers, with channel 1 playing the drums, channel 4 playing the keyboards ect. I’m always a bit wary of such pretentious antics, but one listen to opening track ‘Accelerate’ makes you realize where the band are coming from.
Burning Pilot use a hotchpotch of guitars and synths to carve-out their jagged, serrated sound, with the gloomy art-rock of ‘White Clipping’ recalling Magazine and Kraftwerk. Savage bass lines combine with half-spoken vocals reminiscent of Mark E Smith, creating a challenging and unsettling listen. It’s like the gloomiest indie disco you’ve ever been to.
The album starts to flag in the second half, as Burning Pilot’s indie-dance machine seems to run out of steam. There’s no disguising the fact that the band are a gratuitous eighties throwback and there’s not much here you haven’t heard from The Fall or The Stranglers. If you’re hankering for a post-punk renaissance then maybe you’ll enjoy this but personally ‘Cold Caller’ leaves me cold.