The ''Pilot EP'' was the first official release by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

. This recording was with the original Reuben line up, including Mark Lawton on drums. It was recorded in the summer of 2000 at Backline studios in Guildford with ex Redwood guitarist Rob Blackham. The band had met Rob at Guildford festival, where he urged them to record a demo of some sort, so they set about recording five songs in four days. The EP was released on the Badmusic label in January 2001. The initial run was of 500 copies, which sold out fairly fast, but it is regularly repressed and is available at shows and by mail order. It was reviewed in ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' by members of

Taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

, and received a KKKK rating, despite being described as 'cheesey' by the singer.

Track listing

#"Alpha Signal Seven" #"Words From Reuben" #"Crimson" #"Death of a Star" #"Shambles" (hidden track only on the first 500 copies – click for free download from the band's official site)

Personnel

Jamie Lenman: Guitar, Vocals
Jon Pearce: Bass Guitar
Mark Lawton: Drums

Miscellanea

*Alpha Signal Seven gained the band an early following by being played by DJ

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Academ ...

a number of times by the on his BBC Radio 1 show. It was also the track that convinced Badmusic to put out the EP. *Words From Reuben was the song the band named themselves after. The title makes reference to receiving a letter from an old friend; 'Reuben' having been the first friend that Jamie ever made. It was decided to shorten the band name to just 'Reuben', because the band cited the longer version as 'way too

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

'. The song was the first to be written with drummer Mark in the band. It was also featured on the Farnborough Groove Volume 9 compilation. The funny phased guitar sounds heard on the song were originally just for fun but were left in when the band ran out of time to mix. *Crimson is said by the band to be "a failed attempt to sound like the

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

". This is a big live favourite and was played a couple of times on XFM around the time of the initial EP release. *Death of a Star was written when the band were named Angel and with drummer and producer Jason Wilson, the song was a favourite of the band's at the time. It used to be the standard set-opener from their days at the Tumbledown. *The first pressing of the EP (the first 500 copies) included a secret track, 'Shambles'. The track can be downloaded in full at the band's website. *Reuben where unsure of whether or not they had enough money to record the EP, but decided to go for it after they won £100 in a 'battle of the bands' competition staged in Bookham barn hall in front of a panel of twelve year olds. *The band changed their name from 'Angel' to 'Reuben' just before the release, for fear that it might get overlooked if it were under a different name. * Fleet/Farnborough-based alternative rock band Pilot:X took their name from this EP. The band are also heavily influenced by

, citing them as one of their main inspirations. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilot Ep 2001 EPs Reuben (band) albums