The Story
Pelican has always been a band thatās not just from Chicago, but distinctly of Chicago. Formed in 2000 by guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec alongside brothers Bryan and Larry Herweg on bass and drums respectively, Pelicanās foundation was built upon the rule-free, genre-agnostic scene synonymous with the Fireside Bowl. āThe ā90s in Chicago was a free-for-all. Everyone was just coming from a place of pure creativity,ā says Shelley de Brauw. With Schroeder-Lebec returning to the band following Dallas Thomasā departure in 2022, this reunified version of Pelican allowed the band to tap back into the spirit of their formative era and build something distinctly new with Flickering Resonance.
While longtime Pelican fans will recognize the album as an update to the bandās ethosāone thatās been constantly evolving since their very first EPātheir new partnership with Run For Cover Records emphasizes something thatās always been implicit to the Pelican formula. These songs take as much inspiration from titanic ā90s post-hardcore, space-rock, and emo as they do traditional metal, showing that though Godflesh and Goatsnake records occupied the shelves of Pelicanās songwriters, so too did Quicksand, Christie Front Drive, and Hum. āA lot of people didnāt hear it at first,ā says Schroeder-Lebec. āI was like, well, I guess the metal world is where we fit. But now, we're more willing to acknowledge all the suits weāre wearing.ā
On Flickering Resonance, Pelican doesnāt attempt to reinvent itself as much as emphasize the elements that were so often overlooked. Though Pelicanās thick sonic backbone remains intact, the songs on Flickering Resonance show a more humanistic side of the band. Tracks like āEvergreenā and āIndelibleā tease Pelicanās doom-metal roots, but these songs feel equally, ebullient and truthful, playing like Texas Is The Reason songs transmuted into a post-rock landscape. Recorded with longtime musical compatriot Sanford Parker, who recorded their first EP, Pelican begins this new chapter of their career with an album thatās neither full reinvention nor back-to-roots revivalism. After so much time apart, and with so much life having been lived between the original Pelican lineupās last recording sessions together, the band approached it with renewed vigor and a more communal spirit.
Description
Pelican has always been a band thatās not just from Chicago, but distinctly of Chicago. Formed in 2000 by guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec alongside brothers Bryan and Larry Herweg on bass and drums respectively, Pelicanās foundation was built upon the rule-free, genre-agnostic scene synonymous with the Fireside Bowl. āThe ā90s in Chicago was a free-for-all. Everyone was just coming from a place of pure creativity,ā says Shelley de Brauw. With Schroeder-Lebec returning to the band following Dallas Thomasā departure in 2022, this reunified version of Pelican allowed the band to tap back into the spirit of their formative era and build something distinctly new with Flickering Resonance.
While longtime Pelican fans will recognize the album as an update to the bandās ethosāone thatās been constantly evolving since their very first EPātheir new partnership with Run For Cover Records emphasizes something thatās always been implicit to the Pelican formula. These songs take as much inspiration from titanic ā90s post-hardcore, space-rock, and emo as they do traditional metal, showing that though Godflesh and Goatsnake records occupied the shelves of Pelicanās songwriters, so too did Quicksand, Christie Front Drive, and Hum. āA lot of people didnāt hear it at first,ā says Schroeder-Lebec. āI was like, well, I guess the metal world is where we fit. But now, we're more willing to acknowledge all the suits weāre wearing.ā
On Flickering Resonance, Pelican doesnāt attempt to reinvent itself as much as emphasize the elements that were so often overlooked. Though Pelicanās thick sonic backbone remains intact, the songs on Flickering Resonance show a more humanistic side of the band. Tracks like āEvergreenā and āIndelibleā tease Pelicanās doom-metal roots, but these songs feel equally, ebullient and truthful, playing like Texas Is The Reason songs transmuted into a post-rock landscape. Recorded with longtime musical compatriot Sanford Parker, who recorded their first EP, Pelican begins this new chapter of their career with an album thatās neither full reinvention nor back-to-roots revivalism. After so much time apart, and with so much life having been lived between the original Pelican lineupās last recording sessions together, the band approached it with renewed vigor and a more communal spirit.
