“ethereal…” – New York Post
“Blind Pilot…thrives on the gentle interplay between the strumming of the guitar and Nebeker’s dulcet vocals” – AM New York Feature
“…a bright and simple quality that’s undeniably captivating.” – WXPN’s
World Cafe
“…the songs on its marvelous debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound, are uniformly sturdy and sweet, drenched in brightly rustic instrumentation and some of the sweetest harmonies this side of such likeminded peers as The Avett Brothers and Fleet Foxes.” – NPR Music
“Songs like ‘Go On Say It’ have some of the same distinctly Pacific Northwest mellow of regional progenitors like Death Cab For Cutie and Elliott Smith – which is to say it’s wistful, slightly melancholy, and destined to soundtrack more than a few heartbreaks.” – The Onion
“One of the best bands I’ve stumbled across in ages… their quiet, well-crafted folk/peaceful Americana is irresistible.” – San Jose Mercury News
“It’s quite wonderful…” -Paste Magazine
“Blind Pilot¹s 3 Rounds and a Sound provides stunning confirmation that earthiness doesn¹t have to be the enemy of musical sophistication.” – Soundcheck
“Reflective and wistful…” – Boston Globe
“A rustic reverie” -Philadelphia Inquirer
“Soaring, solid genius . . . their success is all but guaranteed.” – Seattle Weekly
“…an excellent collection of winsome, melodic tunes.” – Philadelphia’s WXPN
“gorgeous folk and pop…” – St. Louis Riverfront Times
“An exemplary bit of minimalist melancholy… the album is a new favorite around here– working in the same areas as the Shins or Death Cab for Cutie, but with a more homespun, folk feel.” iTunes (Song of the Week)
iTunes (Song of the Week, August 8,2008)
“Out of Portland comes a new duo playing music that is undeniably charming while rivaling some great bands from Neutral Milk Hotel to The Shins. Israel Nebeker’s vocals, somewhere between Damien Rice and James Mercer, are tight, the music elegantly played and the lyrics thoughtful.” -Delusions of Adequacy
“Kinda like crack for pop fans. . . . I’m really kinda shell-shocked by this disc. It completely hijacked me with its greatness.” – Aiding & Abetting
“Every once in a while a band comes along that knocks me so flat on my ass that I wish I was in the PR business or an A&R guy instead of a critic, so I could throw myself wholeheartedly behind it. Listening to and thinking about these songs has kept me awake at night. I’m smitten.” – Willamette Week
It takes all of about 10 seconds of listening to this record to realize you are listening to something special, and about the same amount of time to be completely sucked into Blind Pilot’s wistful, melancholic world of acoustic guitars, dulcimers, violins and the like. –Amplifier Magazine
“It is a genuine surprise to be completely hooked, again and again, by the songs of Blind Pilot’s Israel Nebeker over the course of their debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound. Blind Pilot is one of Portland’s best new bands.” – Portland Mercury
“Sounds a lot like what James Mercer of The Shins would sound like if he recorded a solo acoustic album. And there are trumpets, lots of trumpets. It’s quite wonderful.” – Paste Magazine
It takes all of about 10 seconds of listening to this record to realize you are listening to something special, and about the same amount of time to be completely sucked into Blind Pilot’s wistful, melancholic world of acoustic guitars, dulcimers, violins and the like. The quality of the vocals and the melodies are what make this such an enjoyable listening experience. There will certainly be comparisons (justifiably so) to Iron and Wine, primarily due to instrumentation, but also due to the long, meandering, flowing construction of verses. It takes a special kind of songwriter to bust free of the usual rhyme scheme, to break out of the cadence that comes so naturally to singer/songwriters. Fortunately, Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski possess this ability; more fortunately, they were so eager to share it with us that they packed their gear on their backs and bicycled around the west coast on tour. If this doesn’t fully endear them to you, I’m not sure what will. This also allowed them to test out their songs in smaller towns along the way, towns that don’t see bands every day, or every week even. This method of literal self propulsion is reflected in their musical interaction, with intimate percussion and acoustic strumming providing all the momentum necessary to carry us, floating, along with them. – Amplifier Magazine
This Portland, Oregon duo is a sound for sore ears and a nice addition to my iTunes mix. Think Bright Eyes or the softer side of the Shins. Their album, 3 Rounds and a Sound, is lovely, and I’ve downloaded — and am enjoying — “The Story I Heard” and “One Red Thread.” – BuzzSugar.com
There’s nothing unfamiliar about Blind Pilot: Acoustic guitars are evenly strummed; drums are tapped lightly with brushes; and thoughtful nice-guy lyrics are sung with confidence but not overt brashness. So it is a genuine surprise to be completely hooked, again and again, by the songs of Blind Pilot’s Israel Nebeker over the course of their debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound. At times the duo sounds like the Dodos, but rather than a dark Grizzly Bear psychedelic twist, they instead draw on the country soul of Gram Parsons, the lighthearted breeziness of Jonathan Richman, and the patient, no-nonsense tunesmithing of Calexico. 3 Rounds is clear-eyed, catchy, nourishing music that fits into the established Portland chamber-folk scene, but neatly sidesteps much of that music’s preciousness and pretentiousness. Blind Pilot is one of Portland’s best new bands; whether or not you attend the CD release show tonight, it’s likely you will be hearing their music soon. Portland Mercury
