Air Traffic Controller: OurStage Artist Of The Week

posted in: FeaturesPopRock

Our latest Artist of the Week is Air Traffic Controller, a Boston-based pop-rock group that takes their name from frontman Dave Munro‘s stint in the US Navy as, well, an air traffic controller. Citing as a musical foundation the formidable trio of Petty, McCartney, and Springsteen, Munro and his band – including his brother Richie Munro, Steve Scott, and Casey Sullivan – expand those classic pop sensibilities into a lush orchestral wave of sound. They are often accompanied live by a string section (Alison Shipton, violin, and Kiara Perico, viola) to better represent their unique and instantly appealing sound.

ATC compliment their expansive sonic prowess with lyrical insight. In our review of their 2012 LP, NORDO, we observed:

Air Traffic Controller relates the narratives of an average life with such exuberant grandiosity that even the most monotonous aspects of a normal day seem worth celebration. As Munro sings, Sometimes you don’t know if it’s real / Or just some kind of magic show / So all you can do / Is pretend it’s all true. For Air Traffic Controller, it’s that type of magical belief in the splendor of every little moment that makes life not just bearable, but meaningful.

Now that album is getting a deluxe re-release for 2014, featuring new songs and remixes, as the band embarks on a quick tour of the UK before returning home to continue work on a follow-up LP. Check out the tour dates after the jump, along with the video for “Hurry Hurry,” an indie pop anthem that will get a UK single release on December 6th and will be heard on MTV’s Scrubbing In on 11/21.

Tour dates:

Tuesday Nov. 26th
Buffalo Bar Headlining Showcase, 10:30pm
http://www.buffalobar.co.uk/

Friday Nov. 29th

Dublin Castle Showcase, 9:30pm
http://thedublincastle.com/

Saturday Dec. 7th
Iron Horse, Northampton, MA, 10pm
http://www.iheg.com/index.asp

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