A collective featuring Brad Weber of Caribou, Angus Fraser of Tenth of May, Dan Roberts ex-Winter Equinox and Clint Scrivener.
Layer after layer of unhinged tribal rhythms collide with catchy basslines, chugging guitar and many textural overlays. The music mashes campfire singalongs, drum circles, nimble editing and an overall danceable feel that causes you to involuntarily bob your head.
"Like a micro-chipped poncho, Pick A Piper play tribal psychedelic rock with a deliciously biting electronic component and a serious dose of percussion. Ecstatically charged yet almost trance-inducing, PAP are a vodka-redbull with none of the edge, all of the euphoria and zero unpleasant aftertaste. The quartet keep the pulse racing with their 2 drummer set up (they play a Siamese kit, or 2 kits connected by a cymbal), but it’s the understated vocals and melodic flourishes draw you away from the frenetic and towards the sublime. The bells and glockenschpiel featured in their song ‘Rooms’ shimmer and shine over acoustic guitar, barely audible group vocals and hand drums, and make this track a slowly ascendant joy-ride. The arrangement of flute, trumpet, layered vocals and never-ending percussion see their self-titled EP diverse enough to forgive the hippy-dippyness; it’s just SO GOOD that it gets rescued from the cheese pile and move directly to kick ass."
- Lauren Schreiber, No Shame
"Inspired in no small part by such double drummer set-ups as Tortoise, Waterloo, ON's Pick a Piper have beats for weeks but, more importantly, they transcend tribal stomps with gorgeous textures and vocal melodies in their ambitious exploration of their beautiful musical pastiche. Brad Weber has spent considerable time on the road as a touring drummer for Caribou, so it's no surprise that complementing the dreamy, unrelenting rhythms of Dan Snaith has infiltrated the work he's completed for Pick a Piper. Along with Angus Fraser, Dan Roberts and Clint Scrivener, Weber has a powerful ensemble on his hands that sound airtight on this startling debut EP. With their melodic bass lines and carefully precise guitar parts, "Bechtel Park" and "Dené Sled" bubble up with cool grooves before exploding with torrents of pounded toms, snares and tastefully employed percussion. Vocal melodies are given equal consideration on songs like "Rooms," as Pick a Piper send warm doses of humanity into the air."
- Vish Khanna, Exclaim! magazine
That was a great set at Rancho Relaxo. Managing to push the realm of both splendor and mayhem like some sonic rite of passage. A combination of neo-psychedelic dream-pop and tribal-fueled double-drumming explodes into a torrent of live-energy where an Afro-Brazilian celebration meets pop-loving hearts. Winning over the crowd with a phenomenal performance, it’s only a matter of time before Pick A Piper wins over a lot more.
Honestly, wicked video for rooms, fits the song quite nicely. Iceland doesnt sound too bad either. It would be nice to play another show with you guys when you get back to Hamilton.
That was a great set at Sneaky Dee's. A shambolic head-trip opening the percussive floodgates to where a tribal-driven wall-of-sound pours forth like some breathtaking car chase, fast, out of control, yet exciting. This rhythmic cacophony is a backdrop to splashes of melody, music-box electronics, and psych-fueled euphoria to dreamily marvelous effect. A riveting musical display that brings you perilously close to the edge.
Great CD review in this issue of Exclaim Magazine, '"Bechtel Park" and "Dené Sled" bubble up with cool grooves before exploding with torrents of pounded toms, snares and tastefully employed percussion. Vocal melodies are given equal consideration on songs like "Rooms," as Pick a Piper send warm doses of humanity into the air'
