Banner Pilot Premiere New Track ‘Spanish Reds’

Remember Banner Pilot? Sure you do. They’re a quartet of beer swilling, bookworm punks from Minneapolis who play the kind of gritty pop-punk that seems so synonymous with the Midwest. Two years ago they dropped Collapser, their second full length on Fat Wreck Chords, which was so beloved that it even appeared on Punknews.org’s best of 2009 list. They did a few tours and then kind of stopped. In their absence, the beard-and-flannel set, often seen in shitty dives drinking PBR and squeezing in yet-one-more slice of pizza, began to get antsy and then finally, they started complaining. “Where the fuck is Banner Pilot?” they could be heard asking all the other touring Fat Wreck bands, over and over and over and over again. This shit, I’m told, got pretty old after a while. Well, the bands and beardos alike can all stop bitching because finally, Banner Pilot is back with Heart Beats Pacific, their newest full length on Fat Wreck Chords, due out on October 25th and they’re going to be touring extensively on it too, so strap on your spare liver and poke some new fat-boy notches in your belt, because this shit’s about to get real messy.

A quick background check reveals that Banner Pilot started in 2006 out playing their take on dark, midwesty sounding punk rock a-la Jawbreaker, the Alkaline Trio and the Lawrence Arms with a fucking drum machine (they’ve since acquired a live-flesh drummer). Some of the dudes used to be in Rivethead, an outfit that also boasts members of Dear Landlord. One of the guys works at Wells Fargo or Target or something. One of the guys was the studio bassist for all the Off With Their Heads records. They used to be on Go Kart, who put out their debut full-length, Resignation Day, before they\ signed with Fat who dropped the aforementioned Collapser in 2009. There. We up to speed? Okay, then let’s get this baby up to 88 and check out the future.

Heart Beats Pacific, described by the band as “Collapser on steroids” was recorded at the Terrarium by Jacques Wait, who also recorded Off With Their Heads, Dear Landlord, and The Soviettes. When pressed for a blurb about the HBP, Banner Pilot said: ”Whenever a band starts a new album, they have a choice to take a step backwards.. Or take a step forwards. We chose to take a step backwards. That gave us more room to jump two steps forward. What does that mean? Better songs, but still in the same vein as before. A few new things that make the album less straight-forward, but not in a weird way. Thicker guitars, and an overall better sound. We even cracked out a grand piano for a four-count-em-four note piano part. New things, but we don’t abandon or ignore our old sound.”

10/06/11 Chicago, IL at  - Bottom Lounge RIOT FEST w/

ALL, The Pavers, Neutrons Bombs

10/19/11 Asbury Park, NJ at Asbury Lanes w/ Dead To me

10/20/11 Brooklyn, NY at Union Hall CMJ w/ Dead To Me, The Flatliners, Old

Man Markley, The Arteries

10/21/11 Kingston, NY at The Basement w/ Dead To Me

10/22/11 Philadelphia, PA at The Barbary w/ Dead To Me

10/23/11 Baltimore, MD at Otto Bar w/ Dead To Me

10/24/11 Richmond, VA at The Hospital w/ The Flatliners, Dead To Me,

Menzingers, Broadway Calls *

10/24/11 Richmond, VA at The Camel w/ The Flatliners, Menzingers, Broadway

Calls

10/25/11 Charlotte, NC at Tremont Music Hall w/ Dead To Me, Cobra Skulls,

Nothington,

10/26/11 Wilmington, NC at Soapbox Laundro Lounge w/ Dead To Me, Cobra

Skulls, Nothington

10/27/11 Gainesville, FL at Double Down Live w/ Dead To Me, Cobra Skulls,

Off With Their Heads, Nothington, Spanish Gamble

10/28/11 Gainesville, FL at 8 Seconds FEST w/ Cobra Skulls, Polar Bear Club,

We Are The Union, No Trigger, The Copyrights, Tigers Jaw, Savage

Brewtality

11/05/11 St. Paul, MN at Turf Club RECORD RELEASE SHOW!

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