Plane Without a Pilot

Album: It’s About Time (2008)

Artist: Plane Without a Pilot

Label: Rdub Recordings

Where available/price: iTunes, CDBaby.com, Lou’s Records in Encinitas, Taang! Records, Music Trader, Thirsty Moon Records, Off the Record in North Park, M-Theory in Mission Hills, Spin Records, Record City, and at live shows for $10.

Band: Brian Gower (guitar, vocals), Kyle McIntyre (bass, vocals), Rey Puente (drums)

Songs: 1) What I Would Do 2) Your Best Regret 3) Day In Day Out 4) It Doesn’t Matter 5) Going Nowhere Fast 6) In the End 7) Everytime 8) Just Let It Go 9) Song for You 10) One Way Ticket 11) Giving Up 12) Never Know 13) A Better Place

Website: myspace.com/planewithoutapilot

Extra info: Plane Without a Pilot is scheduled to play Soma’s main stage on December 5.

Standard San Diego punk reached national fame with blink-182 and has so far only been furthered along (with fame and evolution of the musical style) by members of that band. Consider +44, Boxcar Racer, and Angels & Airwaves, all headed by former blink members. Perennially, Poway and Rancho Bernardo high schools crank out pop-punk players all wailing the same tortured vocals, strumming the same chords, and hitting the sweet spot on the drums in the same time according to a template drawn up by the bands noted above.

Plane Without a Pilot is no different and blends in with the other North County homage acts. Gower’s vocals hit that throaty whine that (for some unknown and god-awful reason) Tom DeLonge slithered into our ears via MTV and 91X. Gower is very good on the guitar — talented well above the superficial pop of the band. Puente’s drums might be the highlight of the group.

Fact is, if pop-punk weren’t so popular with teens, these bands wouldn’t go anywhere. Fans adore hometown punk, and Plane Without a Pilot is easily one of the better ones playing it. They’re young and feisty, and with any luck they may move through the crowd that plays “everypunk” and change the sound for their and San Diego’s benefit.