Pelican - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw

Pelican
The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
Hydra Head Records



by DC the Medic

Getting people to listen to instrumental music is like getting people to watch The Wire. They'll acknowledge that it's good and has its merits but, when you play it for them, you literally can see their eyes glaze over. I suppose, without lyrics to relate to or a singer to identify with, the music is forced to speak for itself. Appreciating this style of music requires a certain amount of effort on the listener's part which, unfortunately, most people are unwilling to put forth.

This is ironic, considering the amount of time people spend with earbuds in their ears. You would think a better appreciation for music would naturally develop. Maybe iPods are just another extension of the corporate idea of music as interchangeable background noise [It is. -BNF]. Then again, maybe I just hang out with the wrong people. After all, Austin isn't what it used to be.

As for the record, The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw is great. The blessing and curse of instrumental music is that the music must be cohesive and expressive enough to stand on its own. There are no shortcuts to accomplish this. Luckily, these dudes can play. The songs have rich atmospherics and sweeping movements that build momentum as the songs and album progress; and these guys can get heavy. Pelican originates from Chicago and they have a strong Midwestern element to their sound. I don't know why weirdos make the best music, or for that matter why so many weirdos come from the Midwest, but they just do. I can definitely hear equal parts Shiner and Isis in Pelican's sound, but the band takes these and many other elements to create something all their own.

I don't intend to merely stick the label "instrumental" on these guys and leave it at that. The joy of this band is that they defy any kind of classification. Their music is just music, and any other description or meaning, much like this album's title, is solely up to your own interpretation.




Pelican - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw




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