Pelican?

[mcpherson123]

I find this point interesting because I'm really a nut when it comes to timing and though I haven't listened to any Pelican in a while, I can't recall being struck by the impression that the drummer was in any way "poor" or "off beat." I'll have to listen again soon. City of Echoes is the only Pelican release I have. I got the CD the day it came out on a whim and then I grabbed the LP cheap a few years later.

 

I've also seen them live twice and I don't recall being bothered by "bad drumming."

[deletedunknown]

Stream is out for this now. Sounds alright, but still not essential so far.

 

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/streaming-pelicans-arktika/

[kk-downing]

I've also seen them live twice and I don't recall being bothered by "bad drumming."

 

See, the only thing you need to know about Pelican is that their drummer sucks. That's basically what they're known for at this point. I'm not a good drummer by any stretch of the imagination but fucking hell is that guy a pile of shit.

[74R]

See, the only thing you need to know about Pelican is that their drummer sucks. That's basically what they're known for at this point. I'm not a good drummer by any stretch of the imagination but fucking hell is that guy a pile of shit.

 

I played the drums terribly in terrible bands but I would definitely trust KK's opinion. Every god damn Judas Priest album has an insane drummer on it. Scott Travis' double bass on Painkiller is incredible but 19 year old Simon-god-damn-Phillips on Sin After Sin!?! I do a stationary slo-mo upper body only circle pit in my car while driving every time "Dissident Aggressor" comes on.

[planetrakis]

 Pelican Fall 2006 Tour Poster Burlesque.....25ppd. No folds, perfect. Been in tube in closet. PM if interested.

[8ight]

See, the only thing you need to know about Pelican is that their drummer sucks. That's basically what they're known for at this point. I'm not a good drummer by any stretch of the imagination but fucking hell is that guy a pile of shit.

 

C'mon, man. Disliking an artist doesn't mean you need to degrade them. I'm sure you probably don't even care about me being annoyed by your comment, but it's sort of a pet-peeve of mine to see/hear people calling musicians (or any artists for that matter) a 'pile of shit' because of their technical skill. If it's not your cup of tea, stop drinking it. 

 

Pelican could have easily went in and 'cleaned up' all the drumming after recording like nearly every other band does, but they didn't. Instead, it's raw, stiff, and sloppy. And I love it all the more because of that as I think it fits the music, especially their earlier, more sludgy and heavy stuff. No doubt you disagree with me, and that's perfectly fine--music is a very personal experience. But let's just leave it at that and forgo the insults. 

[Neanderthal]

See, the only thing you need to know about Pelican is that their drummer sucks. That's basically what they're known for at this point. I'm not a good drummer by any stretch of the imagination but fucking hell is that guy a pile of shit.

You've definitely got another thing comin'. 

[kk-downing]

C'mon, man. Disliking an artist doesn't mean you need to degrade them. I'm sure you probably don't even care about me being annoyed by your comment, but it's sort of a pet-peeve of mine to see/hear people calling musicians (or any artists for that matter) a 'pile of shit' because of their technical skill. If it's not your cup of tea, stop drinking it. 

 

Pelican could have easily went in and 'cleaned up' all the drumming after recording like nearly every other band does, but they didn't. Instead, it's raw, stiff, and sloppy. And I love it all the more because of that as I think it fits the music, especially their earlier, more sludgy and heavy stuff. No doubt you disagree with me, and that's perfectly fine--music is a very personal experience. But let's just leave it at that and forgo the insults. 

 

See, I'm not going to be worried about the dude's emotional well being anytime soon. You know why? He actually wins in the end. Dude is in a successful band in spite of his shortcomings. Wouldn't we all love to be successful at things we're not good at? 

 

 

74R, is so on-point. The drumming on Sin After Sin is fan-fucking-tastic.

[74R]

 

 

Pelican could have easily went in and 'cleaned up' all the drumming after recording like nearly every other band does, but they didn't. Instead, it's raw, stiff, and sloppy. And I love it all the more because of that as I think it fits the music, especially their earlier, more sludgy and heavy stuff. No doubt you disagree with me, and that's perfectly fine--music is a very personal experience. But let's just leave it at that and forgo the insults. 

 

All insults and personal tastes aside, there is not a single band or form of music that benefits from a poor musician. A big reason bands like  Iron Monkey, Melvins, Whores., etc. sound so full and heavy is because their drummers stay in the pocket and are all beasts.

Stiff and sloppy drummers are a complete deterrent for this type of music because they totally take away from any awesome groove you could have from those heavy slowed down Sabbath/bluesy riffs.

Pelican would be a hell of a lot heavier, punishing, & trance inducing if they had one of the above mentioned drummers or someone with similar ability. We also wouldn't be having this stupid conversation.

[8ight]

 

See, I'm not going to be worried about the dude's emotional well being anytime soon. You know why? He actually wins in the end. Dude is in a successful band in spite of his shortcomings. Wouldn't we all love to be successful at things we're not good at? 

 

I kinda figured your excessive rantings towards the guy were fueled by jealousy.

 

 

 

All insults and personal tastes aside, there is not a single band or form of music that benefits from a poor musician.

 

I suppose I don't even have to go any further with this post then, because I disagree here. If Pelican's drummer is a 'poor musician,' I'd say they benefit because of it. I don't know if I would like Pelican if they had, say, Dave Turncrantz (Russian Circles) behind the kit. He's an incredible drummer, but I just like how Pelican's drummer sounds with the music.

 

For similar reasons, I also enjoy the incredibly mechanical and inhuman programmed drumming on Godflesh and early Jesu. That deep pocket groove that you find in Melvins is perfect for them, and it is great for most other bands as well. So I will say Pelican's drummer (I should just look up his name, but I'm being lazy) is lucky, because I don't think there are many other bands he would sound good in. But I don't think you need to be technically proficient to be a good musician, and I think despite his shortcomings, Pelican's drummer is still a good musician simply because [to my ears] his drumming fits the music. 

[bortx]

8ight I completely agree with your last post. I believe Pelican have the best drummer they could have, otherwise they wouldn't be Pelican, but something else. He is a key part of their own personal sound. Godflesh and Jesu are very good examples as well.

Btw I love city of echoes, what's wrong with it?

[planetrakis]

 City of Echoes is not a complicated as the previously albums, which is why people don't agree with it. It is very straight forward.

[Jackie Crackrock]

The band plays music together, so to say that the drummer is not in time, or not in the pocket is silly. Doesn't matter if anyone's on time if they're all hitting together, which they are. 

 

If you're a stickler for traditional 'heavy drumming', mayyybe they're not for you, but music for me is about character and I back the Pelican drummer 100% for not being some standard expectation of what a heavy drummer should be. I don't even question it. His style is unique, so wrap your flippin' head around it and enjoy.

[74R]

Alright fine, you've convince me. He's the best possible thing for this band. This guy may need some convincing though: "That's it: Fire the drummer."

[Derek™]

4.4? Ouch.  Maybe I'm a total pleb who doesn't know how to music, but weak drums shouldn't dock a record 5.6 points.  Something in the 6-range seems more realistic from a critiquing standpoint.  A lot of the guitars and their melodies are too damn on that record, and I tend to focus on them even when the drums are at their most mundane.

[74R]

Ya. It's pretty harsh considering how much he likes everything else about the record. He must be a drummer.

[drds89]

Thread derailment is over...the obligatory Larry dissing seems to have run its usual course (and then some) and now we'll await more information on the new release.   Yes, I know drums. 

[tomfoolery]

Just to bring this back up (sorry, I'm not just Larry bashing I promise) I have been listening to a lot of Pelican recently and here is my take on it.

Early stuff (basically everything before City of Echos) has a sort of lazy feel to to, almost like everyone in the band is a bit behind, I know this isn't possible but I'm not a professional reviewer of music and not really sure how else to put it. The drumming matches the rest of the music well though and I am a fan of pretty much all of this era Pelican. Then City... came along and it was the first album that to me the drumming on sounded poor. There are some really interesting things going on in that album but there are a few (a few too many) times where the drumming will make me cringe a bit. Since that we have had WWACTN which I'm listening to now, the drumming is much sharper. I read an interview with Larry where he said he had been working hard since he got slated for City and I really think you can hear the improvement here. I never really gave WWACTN that much time when it came out but it is a really good album. Forever Becoming certainly has a different flavour to it, a bit faster and I feel an extension of the difference between earlier work and WWACTN, the drumming on it works well and I can't hear anything that immediately jumps out as 'poor'.

 

TLDR Old stuff is good, City of Echos makes my cringe, everything since is different to old stuff but still good.

[Neanderthal]

I feel like anyone who considers themselves a fan of Pelican and doesn't think Australasia is a very, very good album hasn't given it a solid, intimate listen. 

[Satan]

I haven't listened to Pelican at all, but from the sounds of it, maybe I can be their new drummer!

[tomfoolery]

I haven't listened to Pelican at all, but from the sounds of it, maybe I can be their new drummer!

A few years ago maybe, he's upped his game these days though!

[deletedunknown]

Just to bring this back up (sorry, I'm not just Larry bashing I promise) I have been listening to a lot of Pelican recently and here is my take on it.

Early stuff (basically everything before City of Echos) has a sort of lazy feel to to, almost like everyone in the band is a bit behind, I know this isn't possible but I'm not a professional reviewer of music and not really sure how else to put it. The drumming matches the rest of the music well though and I am a fan of pretty much all of this era Pelican. Then City... came along and it was the first album that to me the drumming on sounded poor. There are some really interesting things going on in that album but there are a few (a few too many) times where the drumming will make me cringe a bit. Since that we have had WWACTN which I'm listening to now, the drumming is much sharper. I read an interview with Larry where he said he had been working hard since he got slated for City and I really think you can hear the improvement here. I never really gave WWACTN that much time when it came out but it is a really good album. Forever Becoming certainly has a different flavour to it, a bit faster and I feel an extension of the difference between earlier work and WWACTN, the drumming on it works well and I can't hear anything that immediately jumps out as 'poor'.

 

TLDR Old stuff is good, City of Echos makes my cringe, everything since is different to old stuff but still good.

This seems like the best assessment I've seen.

[mxv]

I loved the first EP and loved Australasia but after that I totally lost interest in them. To me they just got really boring with every subsequent record and none of the ones I heard or picked up ever grabbed me and stuck like those first two.

 

I did see them live a bunch of times back when those first two records were released and man did I enjoy them every time I saw them. In fact my first exposure to them was seeing them open up for Milemarker back when Pelican released their first EP.