Copilots

Vancouver’s Copilots are an inventive math pop quartet that often come across as the West coast’s answer to the Wooden Stars. Led by Skye Brookes (Fond of Tigers, Inhabitants), the band’s quirky arrangements are bolstered by strong, dynamic guitar parts and a similarly impressive rhythm section. As songs like "Atavistic” and "In Your Heart” suggest, Brookes possesses a great gift for unique phrasing and can muster a cool pop lyric as easily as he can turn out a gutsy roots-rocker. For their part, drummer Dylan Smith and bassist Pete Schmitt adeptly lay strong foundations for multi-layered rockers like "Basic” and the building storm that is "What You Give,” which conjures a Pavement/Richard Buckner collaboration. Guitarist Chad MacQuarrie contributes one song here but his "The Pain Moves Across the Sky” is an excellent, gritty indie rocker reminiscent of Archers of Loaf. Flying completely under-the-radar for now, Copilots are too interesting a rock’n’roll band to ignore.