Bushpilot's original run was from 1993 to 1996 when the Leeds-based band went through line up changes, played gigs, released a seven-inch on Frog Records, signed to Cherry Red, had a song played on John Peel and recorded material that was never released. Their first album, Already!, was issued for the first time in March 2020 through God Unknown Records, and sounds like a lost great on which the world slept for many years.
Although not many records of that time can be categorized as post rock, as the term wasn't all that huge back then, like all notable proto post rock records, Bushpilot's album comes with a krautrock and noise rock foundation, and extends to sounds which at first glance seem more experimental, yet, the seamless unison of styles peculiarly enough results to an approachable outcome. It's a record that comes from almost thirty years in the past, and still feels forward thinking, even for today and the near future's terms.
The comparisons to CAN are unavoidable, especially on tracks like the Peel favored, Big Quaalude Thunder Nothing, a nervy and driving piece which every other krautrock band would have dragged for at least twice its duration, but Bushpilot kept it at a dense three plus something minutes, and shaped it conspicuously well before it gradually came to be their most characteristic piece.
Already! followed Live from Brotherswater, a 1993 recording released for the first time last year also on God Unknown Records, That record is also a fine documentation of Bushpilot's possibilities, captured live to a borrowed Tascam 4-track, and on it the band showed rather bluntly their penchant for CAN, by covering Yoo Doo Right from 1969's Monster Movie.
Whether it's treated like a new find or a gem from the past, Already! is something which calls for more recognition than what it's gotten thus through its obscure rediscovery status.
godunknownrecs.com
ZR