Ohio duo, twenty | one | pilots, are not easily defined. The sound of their debut album Vessel shifts between indie-rock, punk and hip-hop.
It may seem unlikely but the merging of genres is pretty seamless and the band have produced a commendable first record.
The first single Guns For Hands is exemplary of their music. The formula works fairly consistently throughout their songs: a soft start that builds into a pop/rock chorus that is switched up with some bars of rap and a pop-punk kind of tone to the close. The result is a surprisingly well-formed collage of styles.
twenty | one | pilots worked with Grammy-nominated producer, Greg Wells (Weezer, Aerosmith, Adele) which has only helped to ground and polish their music.
‘Car Radio’ begins with a rap that sounds pretty close to spoken-word poetry, accompanied by a simple piano melody. This is then layered with an electro sound that is topped off with angsty vocals towards the end of the song. your feet anyway.
The duo have done extremely well to keep their sound grounded while attempting to do so much, and it’s safe to say they pretty much hit the mark.
“I’m doubled sided” sings the vocalist on ‘Semi-Automatic’; a sentiment that describes the vibe of the album.
