The Story of Two Boys and their Laptop, Kotorimag.com

It's Memorial Day, and I suddenly find myself at the back of a mini entourage as I follow Idiot Pilot lead singer Michael Harris from the world famous Troubadour to the not-so-famous Indian restaurant a couple doors down, the proposed sight of our interview. I had only shook hands with him at this point, but I can hear him very clearly at the front of his posse.

"I have to do this interview while we eat," he confides to one of his friends."It's gonna be lame."

"No it won't, I promise!," I reply from the back of the entourage. Suddenly all eyes are on me, including Michael's, who cracks a mischievous smile. "And I promise I won't ask you to define your sound or tell me your influences, not even once." Laughter all around. Of course, I don't mention that I have no interest in either of these music journalism 101 questions simply because discerning Idiot Pilot's influences is about as easy as spotting a picture of J.Lo in a supermarket check-out line.

In fact, depending on who you ask, Idiot Pilot is either the future of rock and/or electronica or a Radiohead rip-off with potential. Yes, the singer croons a whole lot like Thom Yorke and many of the sequenced passages sound as if they were lifted straight out of Kid A, but to call them a Radiohead rip-off is to slight My Bloody Valentine, Aphex Twin, the Blood Brothers, the Cure, and a myriad of other great bands that Idiot Pilot pay homage to on their stunningly sophisticated debut album Strange We Should Meet Here. In the few months since its re-release it seems that many reviewers are getting some sort of sick satisfaction from cutting Idiot Pilot down to size despite the fact that Strange is clearly one of the most exciting and self-assured albums to come out all year, if not all decade. Perhaps this indicates that the popular music establishment finds Idiot Pilot a little threatening - and maybe it should.

I agree, Swsmh is the real hit back then.

LOL yes ~