Pelican: Dismantling Genrefication& Bending Metal
By: Liam Cole |
Monday September 05, 2005 |
| "It's kind of the difference between television and watching a movie." |
| When I was nineteen, sitting in school for audio engineering, there was a constant gauging for my fellow students: whether they were album people or song people. Although I can say that I've experienced so many great songs, be it just a chance encounter with a favorite song on a radio or maybe a cheesy R&B single from 1992, the experience of sitting with a great album is so much more of an experience. The album people tended to finish their degrees. The song people tended to become a distant memory.
The above-mentioned statement was made in reference to Pelican's new album The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. This cohesive effort of one of Chicago's finest came out just last month on the Hydra Head label. While I definitely have my favorite tracks, the album is well worth the effort of a straight listen. I had wondered how the show was going to be, as I've heard stories of intense volume and the energy once shown in the days of early punk rock. Just after sound check I was introduced to Trevor, one of the band's two guitarists for a couple questions. "[Hydra Head] has such a legacy in the hardcore scene...they could totally ride those coattails..." They however have chosen to expand past their catalog's now defunct bands like Botch and grindcore idols Discordance Axis, moving along with projects like Khanate's new EP and experimental music such as Merzbow. Hydra Head magnate Aaron Turner has made quite a mark on the independent music scene with his own band, Isis. Pelican came to the label's fold after playing some shows with Turner and other bands on the label. "We just sent them our demo and that was that." They're debut album Australasia, was recorded and released shortly after, adding to the band's reputation as having both a great album and an awesome stage act. After the support tour, Pelican gave us the March into the Sea EP. With a twenty-minute plus track and a remix by noted sludge/hardcore artist JK Broadrick (whose project, Jesu, they toured Europe with), the band immediately received critical acclaim. On recent praise/fame, "It's a curious feeling...I sometimes wish that we could play basement shows again and not be labeled for it." Perhaps the most enjoyable realization of this was Vice Magazine's article on the band featuring Pelican's other guitarist, Laurent Lebec, playing Risk against the interviewer. Just as the new album was preparing to be released, the band took a tour of Japan with noted genre-bending rockers Mono. While capitalizing more so on space and dynamic than Pelican, Mono could considerably be construed as a Japanese equivalent. "We definitely feel a kinship with Mono. You can feel it when it happens." With Japan's noted acceptance of noise music, many of America's top acts (Lightning Bolt, Hella, any Dave Witte project) have enjoyed successful tours. "It was different...People seem to be able to step away, I got the impression that the attention span for art is much, much greater." When speaking of the band's label and the scene in general, one can't really get away from art. Whether it be the lush cloud design on Australasia (designed by Turner, also a graphic artist), awesome show posters, or amazing screen shows behind bands (opening act Red Sparrows had a projection of what appeared to be Jem Cohen's Lost Book Found). With a large fan base of like-minded individuals, Pelican seems to draw a crowd of open-minded people, aside from the occasional kid who's so metal that they shit silver. At the Seattle show this was the kid hanging off the balcony screaming "Pelican!, Australasia, I fucking love you!" Maybe this fits into the punk rock aspect of the fan base, or maybe I'm getting old... Aforementioned show openers Red Sparrows are another example of like-minded, talented musicians (the band features members of both Isis and Neurosis) exploring the possibilities of experimental/instrumental music. Live they brought the complexities of their music to the audience in top form (so rare to see a band bust out the slack key guitar). Then Pelican delivered. Playing songs off their new album, one or two off of Australasia and March Into The Sea, Pelican kept the audience's rapt attention in the near boiling-point club. While the bass player and drummer (brothers Larry and Bryan Herweg) showed intense concentration and methodical rhythm, guitarists Laurent and Trevor rocked the theatre while playing awesomely loud, compelling music. When listening to Pelican, parallels are often drawn to post-rock. Being from the birthplace of post-rock doesn't help this. With so many pivotal instrumental bands coming from the Midwest and being associated with that scene, Pelican has had trouble being labeled and lumped with the likes of Tortoise and Slint. "I never really listened to those bands that you've mentioned. I only heard them really when comparisons to our music were drawn." Given the music that this band creates, a wall of distortion infused with acoustic guitars, major chord progression, and even the perfectly odd flute, Pelican is pushing and pulling into a new musical territory. "Larry and Laurent are really into metal, [but] my interest in metal is pretty shallow at best...I think that all of our influences come to bear." With Laurent spinning a great set at Intonation Festival in hometown Chicago, as well as Trevor admitting his love of Neutral Milk Hotel, all members are into some pretty diverse music. The last ten years of popular instrumental and experimental music coming to the forefront of the independent music scene, along with the revamping of stoner metal and the aforementioned post-rock, defining these gentlemen's music is a difficult case for definition. "I usually tell people we're an emo band," is Trevor's sentiment. He even had the requisite argyle socks on to help bolster his assertions. |
