Pelican Brief

After an hour or two of dodging thrown beers at my favorite LES bar Local on Tuesday night, I headed to Bowery Ballroom for the main event -- instrumental Chicago math-riff four-piece Pelican, back in NYC for two shows after a whole lot of touring. We missed most of opener Earth, who are now much less drony and not entirely like the Earth I remember, but Pelican did not disappoint. Their latest record, City of Echoes, is both their shortest and their most subtle, mature full-length to date, and the songs really shone live. On their previous two albums (and massive 30-minute EP March Into the Sea) Pelican displayed a real knack for complex arena bombast, but the new material, while the songs are much shorter, show that Pelican
can spread out and write quieter music that still fits in with their louder stuff. It's still dark and heavy, but more coherent, and occasionally beautiful, even when it hits you at top volume.

Pelican pretty much tore the place down. Guitarists Laurent Schroeder-Lebec and Trevor de Brauw are tighter than ever, audibly matured and comfortable at laying down alternately vicious and shimmering guitarwork. They played a good mix of new and old stuff, barely speaking between songs, though clearly having as good a time as we were. While not as crazed as some of their Hydrahead Records cohorts, Pelican live is relevatory, complex and satisfying. We left the place happy and half-deaf, and I can't wait to see them again.