Pick A Piper - Pick A Piper

As the drummer in Caribou, Brad Weber had already proved a point with his contribution to Dan Snaith’s ‘Swim’. Whilst Snaith busies himself in the immersions of his JIALONG projects, Weber isn’t one to rest on his laurels, picking back up his Pick A Piper pseudonym from 2009-10 and expanding it into a fully-formed project. Weber has also roped in favours from members of Born Ruffians and The Ruby Suns for vocal parts on the self-titled debut. Whilst this all sounds impressive, what matters mostly is whether Pick A Piper distance themselves from their friends and contemporaries, or whether they stick to their formula and fall into the trapdoor function that seems to be always open for anyone expressing themselves away from their more knowable work.

The key to opening the padlock is ‘Lucid In Fjords’, with its syncopated rhythm and pulse, both magnetic and danceable. With Ryan McPhun wavering on vocal duties, the opener feels much like an extension to Snaith’s Daphni release from 2012 – no need to tear up the blueprint then. ‘All Her Colours’, featuring John Schmersal’s tender falsetto amongst layers of springy indie-electro is incredibly busy, with a tribal rhythm pattering throughout its straightforward delivery. The group’s polyrhythmic percussion and atmospheric sound design is best exemplified by ‘South To Polynesia’, with aspirations of abandon and exploration that keeps ‘Pick A Piper’ from sounding like the work of imitation.

However, during the moments that hint towards a new platitude, it seems a little restrained and unsure. Uncertainty colours the album thematically – ‘Zenaida’ suggests freedom with it’s airy plucked guitars, but it’s all too short and narrow, allowing the door to shut unmercifully. ‘Cinders and Dust’ is perhaps the track that is most “poised between the organic and synthetic”, and it precedes the distinct shift in tone on the album that ushers in ‘South To Polynesia’ and the odd and unnecessary ‘Hour Hands’.

With all the various guest vocals, Pick A Piper’s multi-narrative structure is a little problematic. Sure, Disclosure used many collaborators on ‘Settle’, but the linkage with their music is consistent no matter who took hold of the microphone. ‘Pick A Piper’ needed a singular voice to carry the album’s cohesion – one that marries the organic and synthetic, one that it does not have. ‘Pick A Piper”s enjoyment ultimately rests on whether you can get past the influences and artists that they’re based upon or keep up with the story.