Project Grimm * Brand New Hearts * My Twilight Pilot

Rudyard’s presents Project Grimm * Brand New Hearts * My Twilight Pilot.

Project Grimm (Houston, TX)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Grimm/121509194528707

A decidedly less experimental group than its most direct predecessor, the Mike Gunn, Project Grimm was formed in 1995 by Gunn frontman and guitarist John Cramer to satisfy his urges to be a bit more straightforward in his approach to guitar rock. Interested in looking to build a band around this new direction, Cramer called local drummer Rick Costello (…of Houston band Bleachbath) who volunteered his services straight away.

Drew Calhoun joined on bass, and former Schlong Weasel (University of Houston “branch”) member Jim Otterson rounded out the lineup as second guitarist.

Their first show, on July 3, 1995 was followed by recording sessions that would result in their first album, Lying Down out on Linus Pauling Quartet’s Ramon Medina (also a former Schlong Weasel-er) Worship Guitars label in 1996. The pace of recording and releasing would slow down considerably for the band, which wouldn’t quite get around to releasing the follow-up until 2003.

In the meantime, Bo Morris would take over on drums for the kicked out Rick Costello, and Cramer would work with former Mike Gunn colleague Scott Grimm on his Dunlavy project. July 2003 would see the release of Project Grimm’s second album, Huge Beings (released on Camera Obscura’s Australian sister label Camera Lucida), but it would also see the band split — on the very day of the album’s release. Leader John Cramer would later appear as a solo artist working under the name the Powers of Light & Darkness, and played sporadic shows around Houston. – Chris M. True via allmusic.com

Brand New Hearts (Houston, TX)
https://www.facebook.com/BrandNewHearts

“One was a quartet of guys from the teeny little town of Magnolia who called themselves Ultramagg. They were one of the best damn emo(-ish) bands this city had seen, in my humble opinion, and they played every show like they were destroying the stage at some arena-sized show in front of a jam-packed crowd of crazed fans. They were heavy, they were melodic, and they were awesome. Frontman/guitaristNathan Parsons wrote the kind of songs I wished I could’ve written, and it killed me when they stepped out of the limelight and put down the guitars and drumsticks.

Then there was Ben Murphy, who fronted or played with a slew of bands back in those days, from Pop Deflation to We’ve Got Airplanesand up through Panic in Detroit and Lucky Motors and beyond (and who most recently worked his magic in the sadly-defunct Bright Men of Learning). I can vividly remember watching Ben play guitar at one We’ve Got Airplanes show and feeling my jaw literally drop as I tried to figure how he was making the sounds that were coming out of the speaker.

Back in those early band days, we — like every band in this town — had trouble finding and keeping a drummer. We auditioned a ton of ‘em, honestly, and one of the few that utterly bowled me over was a guy named Jeff Senske. The man played like a hard-hitting metronome and was one of the best, tightest drummers I’ve heard before or since, up there with Sugar’s Malcolm Travis or Superchunk’s Jon Wurster. (Plus, he makes the best Drummer Faces ever.) Luckily for him, he came to his senses and demurred when we asked him to join the band, but we went on to be in damn near every good band that came after, including Trompedo and the aforementioned Bright Men of Learning.

Last but not least, there was Bring Back The Guns, aka Groceries, aka Gandhi in Evags, aka at least three or four more names I can’t recall. At one point, I’d pinned my hopes on BTTG to be The Band, the one who’d finally make the Music World At Large sit up and pay attention. The band’s skewed-yet-addictive brand of indie-rock was fun as hell but weird enough to make you scratch your head; in a lot of ways, looking back, they were about five years ahead of their time. And after releasing an EP, an album, and a couple of 7?s, they called it quits and went their separate ways, leaving myself and a bunch of other devoted fans sad and disappointed.

I say all this, by the way, both to set the stage somewhat and explain why I was so freaking excited to get word of the existence of Brand New Hearts a month or so back. I’d heard from Nathan Parsons back in the fall, when he nonchalantly mentioned he was trying to get a band together, and a couple of months later, BNH appeared, a band that boasted Parsons, Murphy, Senske, and Ryan Hull of Bring Back The Guns. It was damn-near perfect, at least on paper.

And, happily, from the snippets I’ve been able to hear so far, it’s damn-near perfect in reality, as well. The band comes off like the best elements of all the component bands/musicians, all mashed together into a glorious, rough-edged, insanely catchy whole, and I can’t wait to see ‘em live.” – Space City Rock

My Twilight Pilot (Houston, TX)
https://www.reverbnation.com/mytwilightpilot

“Saying that MyTwilightPilot write songs is kind of like saying that Homer wrote a poem….” – Devon Powers – Pop Matters

“From peaks and valleys, to the eye of the storm, the songs on MyTwilightPilot’s debut, the 555 EP (named after a cult in their hometown of Houston, TX), captures the imagination and keeps you involved from start to finish. Through melodic implications and soaring guitars, to the windstorm rhythm section crashing down on you. MyTwilightPilot makes you feel like you’re falling from an airplane, without a parachute, and for some reason you know everything is going to be OK because the trip is too enjoyable not to end with happy results. Their high-octane, fuel-burning gas engine kicks your ass time and time throughout the 555 EP, which lasts over thirty minutes (and only four songs). It’s a long EP that could pass for a full-length, but doesn’t. Houston’s MyTwilightPilot revel in sounds, but somehow they don’t come off sounding like they’re basking in excess, a tough job for anyone, especially a band that has only been together a little over a year. I’ll give this an A–.” – Alex Steininger – In Music We Trust

“Mixing the quiet and subtle atmosphere of Bedhead, the sonic white noise of Mogwai, and the sexiness of the Afghan Whigs, MYTWILIGHTPILOT numbs your senses like no other artist out there. . . carefully blending melodies and noise and melodies and noise.” – CDBaby

“From 25,000 feet, there couldn’t have been anything better than to hear MyTwilightPilot for the first time. Right away the psycho freakout and full-on rhinestone thriller “Their Sleeping Endeavors” makes you want to pull out a handkerchief to dry the tears and calms your fears of death (what little there are, right?). All around, you get an array of sounds reminiscent of bands as far-stretching as Sigur Ros and The Sea & Cake. This album is quite pleasant.” – Modern Fix

“Houston quintet My Twilight Pilot works the same alienated, ponderous ground as Radiohead and Grandaddy, tempering a grand, far-reaching sound with high, vulnerable vocals and minor key piano notes. The result — a gorgeous battle between the electronic and the human, sprawls across four tracks and 31 minutes — a Floydian symphony of uncommon sweep and reach.” – Jennifer Kelly – Splendid eZine

“Before a recent gig, MYTWILIGHTPILOT’s Matt Crow was discussing shoes (specifically, Skechers). He knew of a store with boxes stacked so high they obscured the surveillance cameras. It’s a fitting topic of conversation, since MYTWILIGHTPILOT is Houston’s closest relative to shoegazer rock — though not in the sense of My Bloody Valentine or Curve. MYTWILIGHTPILOT is just *really* into its instruments. The five-piece employs the standard guitar attack with obligatory spaced-out effects and uses the loud/soft approach to songwriting. Songs build through airy, dreamy stretches and then lurch into feedback-riddled guitar blasts. Sequencer, keyboard, and drums fill the spaces in between. Crow is a serviceable singer, but the group’s preferred mix renders the vocals indecipherable (and it’s not really about the words, anyway). Fans of Radio/Bedhead may find themselves in friendly skies.” – Troy Schulze – Houston Press

“On their four-track debut, this Texas quintet toes the line between Neil Young’s bucolic balladry (and ragged guitar heroics) and Mercury Rev’s majestic atmospherics. Album closer “Main Theme to ‘Smoking Gun’” is a euphoric broadstroke — alternating soothing and soaring — and actually earns its 11½ minute duration and an immediate come-again listen. 555 is a smart, sharp calling card that whets the appetite. More please.” – Randy Howard – Harp Magazine

“And when those fuzzy guitars kick in, closing out 555 in a mess of bloodshot, pockmarked psychedelia, I decide all is right with MyTwilightPilot.” – A. Hawkins – Delusions of Adequacy