OK Pilot - Nerves

I can't remember the first time I saw OK Pilot. I'm reasonably sure I saw them before moving to London, and a quick Google of "OK Pilot South Wales Massive" brings up threads about a whole bunch of gigs I might've been at. I knew they were from Exeter and good friends with a lot of bands we knew in Cardiff but that was about it. Anyway, I definitely remember seeing them in The Peel after I moved and I enjoyed them greatly (so much so I wonder if maybe I hadn't seen them before). Shortly afterwards I picked up their 10" Nerves in Banquet (not realising at the time that two of them work there. A similar thing happened when I bought an album by Dave House).

It's a great EP and I fully recommend it. There are a lot of great punk bands in the UK at the moment, but what makes OK Pilot stand out is that they're somehow way more brutal than the others. I can't quite put my finger on it; kind of gruff-punk at the speed of hardcore with plenty of balls. Something that comes across even more in their live shows. My favourites both live and on vinyl are Mouth Full of Salt and Words of Encouragement. In fact the whole of side 2 is faultless. I hope they put out a full-length at some point.

Format: 10", insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £9 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 18/03/11
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download

The Arteries + OK Pilot + Brothers + Bangers - Brits Abroad

Brits Abroad was a four-way split that Specialist Subject put out when the four bands went over to Gainesville for Fest in 2009. I'm a fan of all four bands, although I'm not sure Brothers put out much other than this. All I really know about them is that Reza from the Cut Ups plays drums and I saw them once supporting Fucked Up in the Peel.

I think the OK Pilot song is my favourite of the four. Their 10" Nerves is very good too. The Arteries song still sounds like them, but comes across a lot more wild than anything else they've done. Bangers get quite a hook going in their few minutes and close it with a catchy chorus.

I downloaded this at the time with the intention of buying it sooner, but ended up putting it off until a while later when I did a huge order with Specialist Subject (a lot more of those records will appear on here today).


Format: 7"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £3.80 new
Bought: Specialist Subject Records
When: 31/08/11
Colour: black
Etching: no
mp3s: no