Pelican - City of Echoes

One word describes this album: monotonous. No, make that two words: monotonous and dull. Actually when you get down to it you could describe it in three: monotonous, samey and dull. You could argue that samey isn't a word but its how best to describe this album.

Pelican are a four piece hailing from Chicago are all about their instrumental takes on life. A lot of bands can pull this off but a lot of bands aren't Pelican. They are onto their third album now with City of Echoes and you think they would learn. They have had a lot of praise for the first two records, which admittedly I haven't heard, but I'm struggling to understand where the praise for this new album is coming from. To listen to it you would think that Bob Rock left the St. Anger recordings and left all the settings on the desk in place and Pelican thought it would be cool to keep that sound. The drums are barely in the mix except for that tinny sound of the cymbals made famous by Lars Ulrich on that aforementioned album. The bass line apparently drives each and every track rather than following the guitar according to the blurb but if that's the case it’s got a 30 horsepower engine and it’s crashed in a ditch. The one sound they seem to have got right is the guitar but even that manages to sound exactly the same the entire album. When the distortion pedal comes into play it actually sounds like someone’s playing Machinehead at half the speed they are supposed to continually for 7 minutes.

I want to be able to say there’s a standout track on here but I can’t. Not even a single song can I describe as listenable to be honest with you. I had it playing earlier on my mp3 player and I took the headphones out and forgot all about it for 15 minutes and when I put them back in I’d have sworn it was the same track.

As I mentioned they’ve been given considerable praise in the past and made it onto the cover of Decibel magazine. They've been compared to bands like Hum the Slayer and Slint. If you want to hear a band that’s taken that sound and worked at it and actually produced something you’d want to listen to then get off your backsides and go see a local band called Cycle of Zen. Pelican seem to have missed out everything that make CoZ good. In saying that Pelican have been complaining on their website about a leaked unmastered version of their album and urging folk to go and buy their 'slickly produced, meters-in-the-red' version. I truly hope that their PR guys have sent me the unmastered version because if it isn’t god help anyone that has the misfortune to listen to that one if this is supposed to be the good one.

Pelican’s City of Echoes was released on 9th July on Hydra Head Records.

http://hydrahead.tortugarecordings.com/pelican/

[Thermo]

Cant disagree with this review anymore, TBH. Are you usually a fan of instrumental bands? The only people i know who dislike Pelican are either people who dislike that kind of genre with sludgey guitar sounds or people who hate not having any vocals, they need to have something to sing along to.

Personally i dont think its that good an album to introduce anyone to Pelican, the route of The Fire in our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw and then Australasia is a much better choice, but thats my opinion.

Actually went on a lot more and almost reviewed the CD myself Maybe i should!

[Bobzilla]

I am actually usually a fan but this album just didnt go anywhere for me. If it was mixed better I reckon I would have enjoyed it more but theres only so many times I can listen to a guitar ride roughshod over every other instrument on the album.

There were a few good sections in there but nothing that would in my eyes save the album. For a band to do instrumental work they have to have something else tell the story other than vocals and its usually taken up by the lead guitar with the bass and drums providing the tempo and the power behind it. For me the guitar didnt go anywhere and you could barely hear the other instruments under the guitar for them to have any effect on the mood of the song.

I want to like the album I really do but what I was given to review was as if it was half finished which is why I mentioned the leaked unmastered version at the end.

As for reviewing it yourself. Go on...never hurts to have another opinion. For every one I turn off the album you might turn another few on to it.

I've also been trying to track down a copy of Australasia as my mates say I'd love it but so far I've not got my grubby mits on it.

[anglarna]

the album doesn't really hold my interest. there is very little sense of melody and the harmony/rhythm is not interesting enough to hold my attention. another criticism is that the drummer constantly speeds up and slows down when he is playing fills. i find that pretty annoying. although, i would definitely have to disagree with your comments on the mixing. the kick drum is very prominant and the snare is like a shotgun with cymbals quite low in the mix.

[Bobzilla]

I'll give it another listen, might just have been the systems I was listening to it on that dulled the drums and bass. Everything else I listen to sounds fine on them though

[Hayabusa]

While I can respect the fact that the guys in Pelican are into their music, can clearly play their instruments to a high standard, it still doesn't get away from the fact that after giving their records a number of listens they have yet to do anything that really interests me.

However i haven't actually heard 'City Of Echoes' so i'll reserve my judgement until then.

[Densu]

Pelican: City Of Echoes Album. View

You see the Pelican formula is pretty stale after a while, and there last album was pretty weak and boring, you might say even predictable. HOWEVER in this album they are trying to shake the musical chains that may break them free of that. The drummer may be listed 'as' terrible and out of time/speed up and speed down and what? The change in tempo or the insane double bass drum is just what Pelican are all about.

I fail to see why this album would be considered anything less than a progression on there sound and a good album to kick back and smoke a phat as joint to. Not only that it was an AWESOME experience live.

[Tomm]

The whole argument about the drummer is fucking lame. NO drummer sounds "CD quality" for the reason it's all computers and mixed to fuck. Copy + Paste comes to mind. The Pelican drummer lays his stuff down live and while they may footer about with the drums to an extent it's MEANT to sound live and "sludgy".

They're not a bad band either. They do have limitations and they're not the best in the post metal genre but they're still a good band. You have to look deeper into it. I, myself, have no problem with the drummers work at all. This, as Densu has said, is a leap into new grounds for them. It's definitely a different album from Pelican.

I'll need to have a blast through it again to form a proper opinion.

Edit: REMEMBER THE WORD SLUDGE!

[Octavion]

It's actually not that much of a journey into the unknown musically for Pelican. It's really just a mix of their earlier heavy stuff, Pelican E.P/Tusk, and the more chilled out stuff on their full lengths.

I'd don't think I've been able to listen to the album enough times to come up with a final verdict but so far I'm quite enjoying it. I seem to be finding plenty to keep me entertained but I am the type that listen to a lot of tracks averaging in at 15-20mins so I may just be me. :D

Bobzilla, I'd say the lack of bass and drums must be the fault of your system. On my Denon Hi-Fi I'm getting a really thick bass sound and crisp snare and cymbals.

[Bobzilla]

Originally Posted by Octavion

Bobzilla, I'd say the lack of bass and drums must be the fault of your system. On my Denon Hi-Fi I'm getting a really thick bass sound and crisp snare and cymbals.

Its the only one out of 500+ albums that seems to have a problem with it so im doubting that. More likely the review copy ive got sucks.

[Largest of Als]

Well, I cant really comment, I havent heard this album yet..

But I have to say that on 'The Fire In Our Throats....' the production on the final mix wasnt as good as it could have been, but thats just my opinion.
Longer soundscape instrumental pieces arent for everyone... some peoppe ,love them, some just cant get into the groove.

First listening to Pelican I thought it was a bit dull, but I took the time to give it a proper listen rather than just having it on in the house while I was doing other stuff and I grew to really like what I'd heard. Mayb e thats it, maybe it needs more than the standard 3 minute attention span we're used to giving songs these day?



Al

[MarkMono]

Its definitely a grower.

Though I must admit, I'm a bit sick of "Oh, its supposed to sound like its badly produced" bands