REVIEWS:::

LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT________________________________________________

no depression::: Seattle's Downpilot - essentially multi-instrumentalist Paul Hiraga plus producer/percussionist Tucker Martine - charmed critics with 2003's LEAVING NOT ARRIVING, though efforts to peg the band along roots/Americana lines now appear premature, if not erroneous. Hiraga's a student of Americana, all right, but it's the pop end of the spectrum where he takes his residency, and LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT channels some of pop's purest purveyors. Some are iconic; the influence of Lovin' Spoonful, for example, can be detected in seveal songs (for example, the piano/guitar motif of "Slipstream"). Others are of more recent vintage; the riffy, plangent anthem "Cataracts" exudes the same majestic vibe that coursed through the best Gin Blossoms and Trip Shakespeare tunes. Elsewhere, images of Nils Lofgren, Harry Nilsson, and Jeffs Tweedy and Buckley flit past, but Hiraga's hybrid is seamless, a tingly blend of melancholy and melody, bristles and buoyancy, art and atmosphere. -Fred Mills

RECORD COLLECTOR UK ::: Downpilot's ethereal LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT isn't exactly chill out music, but these are songs that demand you to slow down and listen. As the piano-led Mars and the Moon fades, we're led straight into the rock stomp and handclaps of Jumpstart, its infectious dirge taking on a hypnotic quality as it fades into a single, high-pitched bleep. The same can be said for the rocking guitars on Cataracts, but once this is done, the rest of the album trnascends into the upbeat acoustic wonder of songs like Slipstream and A Wave. However, Downpilot, aka Paul Hiraga, employs more than simple guitars, drums, bass, and feeds in plenty of soundscapes and atmospheres to give things an otherworldly feel. While his name might not be on everyone's lips at the moment, at least here's one star that beginning its ascendance.

rolling stone ::: Downpilot's debut album LEAVING NOT ARRIVING may have been praised mainly in americana circles, but Paul Hiraga's roots actually lie completly elsewhere. A trained pianist and avid Talk Talk fan, you could sense this listening to Downpilot's ethereal debut album. After some lineup changes Downpilot were down to being Paul Hiraga and Modest Mouse/Laura Veirs producer Tucker Martine’s studio project. "Mars and the Moon, the first track off new album LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT still harks back to the feel of the hypnotic ambient-americana of the debut album. Then Downpilot veer into a much more direct, but still playful "live in the studio“ approach that sometimes sounds like a more thoughtful, brooding Modest Mouse (with bits of Wilco's BEING THERE thrown in). Piano ballad "Tiny California“ could be the soundtrack to Jeff Tweedy and Mark Hollis meeting in a tiny bar in Chicago at 3 a.m to discuss Erik Satie. (4 stars) -Maik Bruggemeyer

The Stranger ::: ...one of the best local records of the year. Aside from his richly expressive voice and classically trained piano skills, the band's assets include the effortlessly graceful contributions of violinist/vocalist Anne Marie Ruljancich, tasteful bass playing by the Wedding Present's Terry de Castro, and precise, understated drumming by Jeff Brown (with occasional help from Hiraga's German pal Lars Plogschties).
The restrained, delicate approach of local producer Tucker Martine was the perfect match for the material, though Hiraga is quick to point out that overthinking the process was decidedly not on the studio agenda. "I was hoping to be a little more spontaneous," he recollects. "We had spent a lot of time on the first one and labored over stuff quite a bit. I liked that, but it really felt like a studio album. This one... I kind of wanted to go in and be a little bit raw—not like punk-rock raw—but just sort of letting things happen. [Much] like the Kerouac thing, 'first thought, best thought,' you know? Trust my instincts and see what happened." -Hanna Levin

Americana-uk.com ::: This album from Downpilot (AKA ongoing project of Washington-based Paul Hiraga) is nothing short of excellent. Like the multi-layered sherry trifle of beautiful noise, the music of Higara has many levels to discover, enjoy, and (not to put to fine a point on it), lose yourself in the wonderous noise and, rock out.
The influences involved in the construct of this album are eclectic; tracks such as “Careless” appear to be heavily influenced by Nirvana and Soundgarden (amongst others), whereas the opening track “Mars And The Moon” has undertones of Thom Yorke, and incidentally, is aptly named because it sounds like it was recorded in outer space. Not in a kitsch Barbarella way, more in an otherworldly, ethereal sense. Higara’s piano ballads are truly stunning and attention grabbing - they really take the listener away from the work desk/car/kitchen, to somewhere else a lot more beautiful.
This isn’t an album you could just put on quietly in the background. Within the first few bars of the first song, you are pulled through a glass darkly into a world that at times, resonates like the echo of a long forgotten chord. Before you know it, the volume has been cranked right up, and you’re sat there nodding furiously in time to the music, annoying the neighbours, and drowning out the sound of the television. Or at least that’s what happened to this writer.
“Like You Believe It” could happily sit next to a variety of albums and not be out of place – “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” (Wilco), “Rock n Roll”/”Love is Hell” (Ryan Adams), “Nirvana Unplugged” (Nirvana), and even “Ten” (Pearl Jam. If it was a bit more stripped down. Or maybe not). Aanyway...
It just goes to show Hiraga’s affiliations spread beyond that of Alt. Country, and wanders very happily into the realms of contemporary indie, with a nice bit of Grunge-derived nostalgia in there to boot. Wonderful, beautiful, intriguing and touching. Get out and grab yourself a copy. Now.

LEAVING NOT ARRIVING_____________________________________________________


no depression::: It’s a fine line between melancholy and moping, but Downpilot walks that line with superb grace. With its brooding lyrics and hooks that haunt you in the middle of the day, Leaving Not Arriving is full of romantic meditations that brilliantly capture life’s complexities. Frontman Paul Hiraga’s austere delivery of the album’s opening couplet, “I heard the most dangerous thing about you...last night”, from the song “True”, sets a ponderous mood maintained throughout the disc’s ten tracks. Hiraga’s breathy, raspy vocals lend the songs a buoyancy that allows them to move effortlessly across his emotional landscape. On the second track, “Everyday Dream of the West”, Downpilot picks up a pace that continues until the album’s centerpiece, “High Water Mark”, which spotlights the stark harmonies of violinist Anne Marie Ruljancich. She and Hiraga create a dreamy sonic terrain that’s not dissimilar to her recent work with the Walkabouts. With elegantly layered production by Tucker Martine, the album swirls and floats and sometimes rocks. From the free-jazz horn sputters of “My Sunshine” to the atmospheric “Overground”, this is an ambitious, auspicious full-length debut. (Brian J. Barr)

rolling stone ::: ...Through numerous recastings and resignations during the recordings, Downpilot, actually for the most part a live band, increasingly became the studio project of Hiraga and (producer Tucker) Martine, to the effect that pieces that began as alt country songs moved farther and farther away from their origins evolving into a combination of Americana, jazz and ambient, that could no longer be put into any category. As the genuinely American title already suggests, and in the spirit of the “On the Road” myth, “Leaving Not Arriving” never touches the dusty, pothole-filled streets, but instead seems to float, to the effect that, as in David Lynch’s “Lost Highway”, you see the yellow-painted median lines flying by: “I’ve been overground/Silver dust lines to read by/In the expressway of the sky.” (4 stars)

harp Magazine::: The stark, Lennon-esque piano on “True” that states the opening of LEAVING NOT ARRIVING hardly hints at the the lovely and expansive textures to come. Over an efficient 10 tunes, Paul Hiraga’s plaintive voice sits comfortably amid a smattering of sonic embellishments that stand up and move around on repeated listen. Simple trio arrangements by Hiraga (guitar), Jeff Brown (bass), and Eric Eagle (drums) are at the core, and they’re brought to life with violin provided by newcomer Anne Marie Ruljancich (Walkabouts) and Hiraga’s penchant for tinkering with keys. Sometimes the arrangements border on fringe country (the weepy sounds of “Everyday Dream of the West”) while other dart toward beautiful dissonance through a hodgepodge of toys: distorted harmonica on “Mapmaker,” a brass break on “My Sunshine” and a droning segment of guitar feedback on “High Water Mark. Making good on the promise of their THRIVE IN A SHORT SEASON EP, Downpilot propose and marry the unlikely union of Velvet-tinged flesh and folksy bones. (Andrew Dansby)


ThreeImaginaryGirls.com::: ...the band sounds mellifluous, with such pretty open-throaty vocals from frontman Paul Hiraga. It's rare I'll call an indie-rock band "pretty," but in this case, the adjective is apt... they feature nice girl/boy harmonizing, which has also been seducing my ear lately. Downpilot are everything I've ever wanted, all rolled into one band.

The Stranger::: ...the music is by turns jovial and ponderous, carefully produced by Tucker Martine and filled out by Anne Marie Ruljancich's backing vocals and violin. Ruljancich's presence (along with the weary horn sounds and well-placed glockenspiel chimes) makes me think of Come's Near Life Experience and the Walkabouts' 1997 release Nighttown ; a certain grittiness comes through on Leaving Not Arriving , a darkness marked by a maturity that takes years on the planet to acquire, not just bleak happenstance. (Kathleen Wilson)

in music we trust::: Produced by Tucker Martine (Modest Mouse, Jim White, Jesse Sykes), Seattle-based indie-pop outfit Downpilot's debut, Leaving Not Arriving , which opens with the unforgettable piano-pop masterpiece, "True", tells us that there is a new band on the block to pay attention to. Crafting straight ahead indie-rock alongside more experimental, ambience-centric pop melodies and wistful lyricism, Downpilot's debut sounds like a band that has worked together for quite some time, its production leaving not a hair out of place, and the instrumentation so delicately flowing into the next. Seattle has another gem on their hands, the up-and-coming Downpilot. (Alex Steinenger)


splendid::: ...Singer/guitarist Paul Hiraga's voice contains the stubborn, ragged weariness that infused (Warren) Zevon's wry tales, a trait that gives his lyrics weight and honesty. This is the kind of voice that you trust, the kind of voice that you instinctively allow inside your heart.
The second key to my love for Leaving Not Arriving is the songwriting. Hiraga, with bandmates Anne Marie Ruljancich (violin/vocals), Jeff Brown (bass/vocals), and Eric Eagle (drums), has crafted perfect songs. Perfect is not a word I use lightly, and I stand by its appropriateness here...this sense of balance and beauty fills every moment of these ten songs, from the structured melancholy of "High Water Mark" to the jangle of "My Sunshine". Even in the album's looser moments, such as the stuttering echos at the end of "Not Detoured", everything fits into a cohesive and moving whole...for me, however, the touchstone is the sense of loss that infuses many of the songs. Downpilot have stepped into the void left in me by Zevon's departure, so perhaps that's to be expected. In any case, the quartet has entranced me so much that I just ordered a copy of the disc for my dad. I think that my need to share this music says as much about Leaving Not Arriving 's quality as anything I could write.